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THE ENGLISH LAKES 



MAY, 186 4-. 



A GOURMET 



[for private circulation only.] 









A T K I P 

TO 

THE ENGLISH LAKES 

IN MAY, 1864. 



A little" moment, Gourmet, if you please ! Banting has 
rooms iu Keswick just now, and I must be there soon ; we 
wish you to join us for a few days, and enjoy the fresh tints of 
spring in that lovely country. Eh ? 

Spring, indeed ! it's nothing but " blow, blow thou wintry 
wind,"— ugh ! there'll be many a bleak house in Cumberland, 
I warrant. 

Now listen to the plan. 

Nonsense man, how can you listen to a plan ? Accept, 
examine, approve, reject a plan you may, but " listen" is not 
correct, though youth, with the oldest head on youngest shoul- 
ders, " I thank thee for the word." Who understands a plan 
so well as you, Johnny ? 

Why you're Shakespeare struck ; this blessed tercentenary 
has turned your head— too much it's been for many of you. 

No ; not too much, wise-acre. If it but teach a tithe to 
read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the works of him who 
wrought and wrote so lovingly and well. 

Now listen I say, once for all, I can't get a word in edge- 
ways. * * * 
Well, that's new sensation anyhow for you, Master. 
Banting says — 
Ah ! BantiDg 

— " they call him— but a merrier man 
Within the limit of becoming mirth, 
I never spent an hour's talk withal ; 
His eye begets occasion for his wit ; 
For every object that the one doth catch, 
The other turns to a mirth moving jest ; 
Which his fair tongue " * * * 

Good gracious, " fair tongue !" how could such a Saxon be 
otherwise than fair? 'Tis indeed " love's labour lost" talking 
to you — but just bold your unfair tongue a moment. 

What ho ! punster, what ho ! " Anon, anon, Sir !" " I pause 
for reply." 

Now ! Banting wiil meet us at Springfield with his trap ; I 
shall be iu Penrith, whither you must come by an early train, 
and after breakfast there * * * 

Breakfast! "with what appetite we may." Oh! mind, 

B 



order trout with fried parsley, dos't hear ? and insist on that 
greasy and familiar waiter washing his hands and face for once, 
by way of a treat. 

Then we can post on afterwards. Now, are you game for 
Whit Tuesday ? 

Certainly, if you'll only write to the weather office for a little 
lain, and a change of wind— but seriously, send word to our 
mutual friend as Podsnap has it, "ridiculous opportunity, but 
so glad of it, 1 am sure." Banting is a vastly agreeable 
fellow ; he remembers more than most men ever knew ; 
thoroughly understands what to eat, what to drink, and what 
to avoid ; and is of that remarkable class which is never in a 
hurry, never late for a tram, or behind an appointment ; never 
shocked nor surprised at whatever may turn up, nor perturbed 
in the slightest degree by circumstances the most weighty and 
peiplexing. No one I should like to meet better, bar yourself, 
of course— present company you know is always excepted in 
personal allusions in good society ; and as Punch tells us this 
is sure to be a fine spring, as the year of grace 1864 is leap 
year, we'll hope this cutting nor'-easter may change, and allow 
us the hilarity of the charming season of hopeful spring in the 
most delightful district of the north. Go? of course, old boy, 
and in such company ! I am so glad of the opportunity, 1 
really am. 

Such was the invitation of my two friends on the 5th of May, 
of whose genial hospitality 1 availed myself last August. 

Happily, on the 11th, the wind veered round the right way, 
and nothing could be more acceptable. Vegetation sprang 
into activity as if influenced by a forcing house, flue rain assist- 
ing, as the Fieneh have it. 

17th May.— Having done a good hour's gardening between 
five and six at home, and polished off a batch of letfers, I took 
the early train for Penrith. Whit-Tuesday, in places where 
the market is held on Mondays, is always, if the weather be 
tolerable, the best holiday the hard-worked have. The morning 
was misty, but of that kind indicating the approach of great, 
heat, and it was " most jolly" to see the happy faces of fiiends 
and 'those to whom one nods, anticipating perhaps as much 
pleasure as myself, whether they had it or not. All the way 
from umbrageous Piereebridge, along that line by sunny Winston 
and charming Selaby, up to blowy Barnardcasile, along the tor- 
tuous, leafy, sparkling Tees the route is lovely, and nevermore 
so than on this day. From the airy structute of the ingenious 
Bouch which spans Deepdale, one could see right and left, up 
and down that charming ravine so famed for ferns and foliage, 
the mist sweeping off, now revealing, anon concealing the view 
so exquisite, m that manner peculiar to the summit of high 
mountains. Arrived at the crest of Stainmoor, the vast plateau 
of pastoral Westmoreland lies open like a huge map. The 
variety of tint was brilliant in the now perfect sunlight, and a 
sycamore, as if suddenly awakened into life ere its unfolded 
leaves had deepened into green, shone as molten gold. Such 
an effect 1 had never witnessed before, though three other 
instances met our gaze in Newlands the following day. Though 
the gradients are desperate, entailing a serious expenditure of 



costly power, the railway with iis stupendous viaducts, that 
over the Beelah beingthe highest in England, and flue bridges, 
is worth a journey of itself, and few points are more telling 
than the first peep of Kirby Stephen, the noted residence of 
Poet Close, and the important High Sheriff of the county. 
One of those extraordinary gatherings called a statute fair — 
against which as an institution so much just indignation some 
time ago arose, but which, like other spasmodic emotions of us 
English, has been a nine days' wonder and little more —was 
being held at Penrith. That small town, by its long enjoyment 
of railway communication, has distanced in influence all rivals, 
and become, with its seven means of access other than by rail, 
the centre of a wealthy agricultural district. Special trains, 
besides the ordinary traffic, conveyed many hundreds on busi- 
ness and on pleasure bent. "Punctual to his word," as 
he always is, my friend tarried for my arrival at the 
station, the train being just thirty minutes after time. But 
mark the crowd ! Such Boeotians I never looked at. Though 
the special had cleared off vast numbers before our 
regular train arrived, we picked them up all along the line, 
station after station from Kirby Stephen. Paisau, the gloomy 
valleys of Switzerland or Savoy could scarcely furnish forth a 
physiognomy lower in hoih sexes, the exceptional talent being 
nothing higher than low cunning. There were very few old 
people— I counted four — and all appeared to belong to the 
agricultural claSs— farm servants going to he hired at the 
statute fair, of which there are two every year, one in May the 
other in December. In elbowing our way, as hest we could, 
through the densely crammed station, it was odd to observe piles 
on piles of huge boxes, large chests indeed, Dig enough to hold 
their owners, belonging to servants changing places. From the 
top of the 'bus the sight was strange ; all down the heart of the 
little town, nay to the very outskirts, was one sweltering mass 
of struggling human beings of the same low type. At certain 
places more caits and gigs stood on their bottoms, the shafts 
pointed as if to receive cavalry, than T ever saw assembled in an 
area so small, shewing inconttstably the purely agricultural 
population of the surrounding district. Whether it is from 
want of the means of education— from laxity of moral control — 
from the extraordinary system of courtship adopted with the 
acquiescence of the girls' mothers— the apathy of those by whose 
hands discipline should be enforced — from climate— owing to 
a sparsely scattered population shut out from the world in most 
part, and without healthy amusements, or what not, through- 
out Cumberland, so far as my own observation went, and parti- 
cularly at this fair, the type of the people was the lowest— faces 
the weakest, heads the most animal I ever saw- and their 
manners, without meaning to be uncivil, perhaps the most un- 
couth ; in fact an aggregate of healthy savages. While the 
neighbouring county of Durham shows an increase of 30 per 
cent in the population, as proved, by the census returns of 1861, 
during the interval of the ten previous years, Cumberland by 
the same table has but 5. Although Durham contains a mixed 
population of miners and mechanics, hard-fisted labourers of 
all kinds, in the year 1860 the illegitimate births in that county 
were only 5 4 per cent, yet in Cumberland the return is no less 



6 

than 12-1, or over 1 in 8 as against London, which is abont i 
in 24 ! At these statute fairs, which occur throughout the 
principal towns in the county, the orgies commence at three 
o'clock in the afternoon in the open streets, and statistical 
returns of the irregular births in wedlock, besides the state- 
ment quoted, the causes of death, the amount of drunken- 
ness, and the exaggerated number of cases of delirium tremens, 
even in women, would be something appalling to Dean Close 
and his clique, who want to make folks moral by Act of Parlia- 
ment — "rob the poor man of his beer" — "starve out the 
publicans" — and oust the education of the drama for the in- 
flation of the platform. The people were in rude health ; I did 
not see a single person pitted by small-pox, and only one 
cripple. By far the quaintest of the motley crew was Lord 
Brougham's steward. If he has any other name than this 
honourable title, we could not make it out, so ignorant were 
those from whom such information would invariably be gleaned 
elsewhere, and of such " a character" too ! What a carte the 
curious old bird, donkey chaise, and all away together, would 
make, including the leather breeches ! 

Ballads are always instructive upon the interesting question 
of the manners and customs of a people, and those pursuing 
such inquiries as may here be excited are referred to Anderson's 
collection of Cumberland ballads, wherein may be found his 
note iii., p. 202, to 

" When aw t'auld f wok were liggin asleep,"* 

which appears to me — combined with the marked absence of 
decent accommodation too frequent in farm houses — to be the 
key to the whole mystery. It would be unfair to Cumbrians 
omitting the fact, that, notwithstanding the crass ignorance and 
extreme irregularity of their peasantry, the county shews a 
sheet cleaner of heinous crime than most, and in that respect 
will hold her own against all comers, as the following com- 
parative analysis proves :— 

Statistics or Crime (1860). 



>, S s->o 'S 8 o) «fc 
o o B "e" !fa 



Pl. Ph 



to 



Cumberland 205,276 . . 17 . . 7 . . 56 . . 1 .. 1 .. — .. 82 

Bedford.... 135,287 .. 2 .. 6 .. 58 .. 3 .. 1 .. 1 .. 71 

Berks 176,256 .. 12 .. 2 .. 109 .. 6 .. 3 .. — .. 132 

Bucks .... 167,993 .. 13 .. 8 .. 81 . 1 .. 4 .. 2 .. 109 

Cambridge.. 176,016 .. 17 .. 4 .. 67 .. 3 .. 2 .. 5 .. 98 

Dorset .... 18S,789 . . 24 .. 7 .. 106 . . 1 .. 1 .. 7 .. 146 

Hereford ,. 123,712 .. 14 ., 8 .. 56 . . — .. 2 .. 3 .. S3 

Hertford .. 173,280 .. 4 .. 6 .. 79 . . 8 .. 3 .. 4 . . 104 

Oxford .. 170,944 .. 10 .. 4 .. 80 .. 2 .. 3 .. 6 . . 105 

Westm'land. 60,817 .. 3 .. 1 .. 15 . . .. 1 .. — .. 20 
Allowance must be made, of course, for excess of population. 

* See Appendix. 



After breakfast, my friend having some business to transact 
an hour was left me to stroll about, and among other sights I 
recognised, adorning an itinerent photographic establishment, 
the portraits of South Durham worthies, who would have been 
mightily chagrined, I trow, at being held so cheap. At one 
o'clock we posted to Springfield to join Banting. The day was 
deliriously hot, and the country fragrant with fresh greenery. 
On nearing our destination, true enough there was his trim 
trap in waiting, and soon out he came to welcome us in the 
hearty but placid manner of his wont. 

How are you ? How are you ? How are you ? 

Where do you live ? Where do you live ? Where do you 
live? 

(All three speaking at once, the trio adding.) 

Very glad indeed. Very glad indeed. "Very glad indeed. 

Such the greeting, so English and so odd. We always call 
him "Banting," he's in such a fuuk at becoming corpulent and 
losing his figure, poor fellow — but he's a rare sort when you 
know him, though he has dropt his beer and taken to biscuits. 
He was just like a new pin — almost painfully neat — in short, 

" The glass of fashion and the mould of form." 

Most fortunately at this place, where the Patterdale station 
will be — the distance from point to point being nine miles— we 
were introduced to Mr G. Grant Boulton, the eminent contractor 
of the new line he expects to open in July, and by which Pen- 
rith will be immediately connected with Keswick and Cocker- 
mouth, thus making a direct and unbroken route by the North- 
western and North-Eastern systems to Workington and White- 
haven, and in fact to all parts of the kingdom. Besides the 
immense advantage of passenger traffic to the Lake district, 
the superior coke of South Durham will be exchanged for the 
hematite of West Cumberland ; not only that, but the moun- 
tains which have for countless ages been a perennial beauty and 
delight to the eye, will yield, if we mistake not, an inexhaust- 
ible source of profit to man. Hitherto their boundless wealth 
has been sealed up for want, of the very means of access now 
about to be supplied. That gifted woman Harriet Martineau, 
some time ago looked upon railroads in Westlmoreland and 
Cumberland as the chimeras of enthusiasts. The venerable 
first railway solicitor when he prophesied, in the dawn of rail- 
way enterprise, that the locomotive would travel 20 miles an 
hour instead of the eight old George Stephenson was compelled 
to admit before the committee, was looked upon as distraught ; 
but once fairly in working order Mr Boulton's line is merely 
the harbinger of a complete system throughout the district, 
and not many years will pass over before Windermere and Der- 
wentwat'er are linked together by iron lines, Ullswater having 
the benefit of a short branch to Penrith. The minerals in the 
neighbourhood of Keswick comprise a list so vast, of a value 
so immense, and a supply so bountiful, that the intelligence 
and the wealth which unquestionably will be brought to bear 
for their development must raise the character of the county 
from its present degradation. The contractor, in the most 
courteous manner, offered to take us by his little engine along 
a portion of the line, and the trap having been sent thither, 



8 

Sometimes driving, sometimes walking, we reached Mosedale, 
where one of the finest viaducts is built. The district abounds 
in beautiful porphyry and building stone in great variety and 
of the best quality ; of such materials then is the masonry con- 
structed, and the colour of the works in such scenery is 
peculiarly harmonious. Although in the valleys the day was 
sultry, the air along that part of the line which traverses the 
Hutton Moor to Threlkeld was fresh and crisp — nothing could 
be more exhilarating. Retaking the trap, after thanking Mr 
Boulton, we drove down into Keswick, the approach to which 
is, every yard of it, more and more bewitching. Such a spring 
as this had not been known almost in the memory of man. The 
modest primrose sparkled in company with luscious whins 
and golden broom, lilacs, and laburnums, bird-cherry, horse - 
chesnuts, apple blossoms, campions, wood-roof, hair-bells, 
bird's-eye, cranes-bills, stellaria minor and major, wood- 
anenioiies, forget-me-nots, rhododeudrons, azalias, hawthorn 1 
(red aud white), herb-robert, crosswort, pimpernel, barberries, 
orchids, and ferns unfolding their graceful fronds to the summer 
sun in May. Dotted about here and there were seats of the 
gentry, their grounds and the whole country being ablaze with 
gorgeous colour, toned down with the ireshest green of every 
shade, mingled with the early maroon of the sombre purple 
beech. Ho scene could be more delightful, but it was only an 
earnest of brighter gems in store. I have revelled in the 
luxury of Spring in the South of France, aud the sudden splen - 
dour of Northern Italy, where Summer treads ou Winters 
heels, and this was as enchanting, nature seemed so buoyant 
and so tuneful, the very birds warbling new notes. As Canting 
was unable to put us up, apartments were ready for us at the 
George, where we dressed before his dinner at 7.30. About 
9.30 some one " called for a calendar, and found it was moon- 
light to-night," so out wc sallied to puff our " weeds" upon 
the lake, awakening the merry echoes with catches, questions, 
Kooi Kooi and ram des vackes till nearly midnight. Such was 
our first pleasant day. 

May 18th. — It almost escaped me to mention my disgust on 
finding there was no trout for dinner — Banting said it was 
foolish destroying a fine appetite by vexation, he was inured to 
every vexation ; at Keswick there was no such precau- 
tion, but at Lodore they have a tank always at command to 
prevent disappointment when fish wont bite — so to make 
assurance doubly sure, we found out a man of the name of 
Atkinson who promised everything ; first, that fish should be 
supplied for breakfast without fail this morning ; secondly, 
that he would accompany me before five a.m., for the purpose 
of catching it ; thirdly, that he would have his tackle "and bait 
ready. Inconsequence, of course, I was out by 4'30, thinking 
it more prudent, having taken stock of him, to look after the 
man a little ahead of the time appointed. With the greatest 
difficulty, after belabouring his door and pitching gravel at his 
window, he was aroused out of a heavy sleep, and we reached 
the water's edge at 5 - 30 ; thus missing more than a good hall- 
hour of another glorious morning. Atkinson is a man " when 
found to take a note on." He is a wonderful fellow to talk, 



9 

and talks well. He told me that in July, 1816— it was awfully 
hot that year— he performed for the miserable sum of £10, 
more fool he, one of the most remarkable pedestrian feats on 
record, winning his wager with 19 minutes in hand. No man 
knows the country better, which is a grand point. Starting 
from home at seven p.m., he sped to and ascended Scawfell 
Pike, the highest English mountain, its altitude being 3,166 
feet ; then he reached the base and attained the summit of 
Helvellyn, which rises 3,055 feet, and comiug round by Skid- 
daw climbed that great mountain, no less than 3,022 feet high, 
by way of a finish ; and returned home smiling at 6"11 the 
following evening, the distance being between 70 and SO miles, 
and the ascents and descents something perfectly astonishing, 
within his limit of 24 hours. He must have been in rare hard 
condition, as he lost only 31bs. weight, and was hearty enough 
to enjoy the society of his friends immediately afterwards ; to 
whose home he had to travel an extra distance. The account 
of this performance is recorded in Bell's Life. The approach to 
equality in the various altitudes in the lake district is remarkable. 
The three mountains named are not far off each other in height. 
Fairfield is 2,950 feet, Great Gable 2,925, Saddle Back 2,787, 
Grassmoor 2,756, Red Pike 2,750, High Street 2,700, Grisedale 
Pike 2 680, Old-man 2,577, and Kirkstone Pass 1,200. Does 
this affect the argument of subsidence against eruption, as the 
cause of the irregularity of the earth's crust ? In 1851 I was 
present at a private gathering of savana at the house of an 
Italian friend, when Professor Belli, of Bologna, showed us there- 
suit of an interesting experiment, illustrative of the latter theory. 
He was the most speechless and reserved person I ever met 
out of an institution for the deaf and dumb, but there was a 
deal in him. As to his ingredients, he preserved a profound 
secrecy ; they were mixed in another room by himself alone. He 
then shewed us his liquid in a pan, and boiled it before our 
eyes. When cooked, he allowed us to see it cool, and in that 
process, sure enough, instead of subsiding, up gradually arose 
undulations on the surface representing, as he said, moun- 
tain-ranges, water-sheds, valleys, dales, and so forth. When 
cold the substance was as hard as metal, basaltic looking stone, 
and when fractured displayed curious stratifications, and line 
upon line in places like flints in the chalk formation. We 
asked no end of questious, but the oracle was dumb. Now the 
depth of the lakes is much more varied, Windermere being 
210 feet, Ullswater 210, Basseuthwaite 6S, Derweutwater 72, 
Crummock 132, and so on. 

But to return to old Atkinson, who had as usual forgotten all 
about me and my fishing, trolling, and minnows, so the next 
best thing to be done was to set a lot of trimmers with live 
perch, in the hope of good luck, of which unhappily there was 
none, as we did not touch a fin, bar those of the unlucky bait, 
which were lively for hours. Nevertheless, the morning being 
so fine, mere existence was luxury, and it was impossible to feel 
annoyed, the man was so sorry and so civil. Marshall's island, 
with all its beauteous .varied leafiness, looked more inviting 
than ever, and as my guide knew the gardener, we went over 
the entire place, and among other specimens examined a tulip 
tree of extraordinary growth. Returning home for a bath at 



10 

ten, our party sat down to breakfast precisely at eleven ; and I 
mention this fact merely to note what, as an old traveller, has 
always appeared to me to be the best mode of dividing a 
tourist's day in hot weather. Invariably be out at live, after a 
good cold tub, including the ablution of the head ; work hard 
till eleven or even twelve. If at all fatigued or over-heated, 
repeat the tub tepid, and then sit down to a real breakfast, not 
of the simple tea and toast kind, or bread and water, or even 
porridge, but a regular meal, served hot and hot, such as they 
gave us this morning at the George. The menu ran thus — 
there was tea, as a matter of course ; it is refreshing, and the 
English always like it. We started with young radishes and 
watercresses ; fried trout, lamb cutlets with potato chips, and 
poached eggs, were served separately on the table. Cold veal 
pie (very well made), calves' head mould, cold tongue, and 
potted trout being on the sideboard, with a bottle of cool 
Vin de Grave, which was excellent. Such exactly was the re- 
past, to which we did mighty execution. After it, we wrote 
letters or read newspapers or chatted till one. Then the horses 
were ordered out, and we rode at an easy rapid walk by Portin- 
scale, round the head of Derwentwater, through Sir John Wood- 
ford's property, where admirable improvements in road-making 
are being carried out ; by Keskadale, whence, looking back on 
Keswick, the lake, representing the Arno or the Inn, one is 
furcibly reminded of Florence or Tnspruck ; and so on right 
up the steep road to the summit of Newlands Haws before 
dropping down upon Buttermere. Even had the way been 
less precipitous, the heat was too great to have gone faster than 
a walk, which pace the nags did smartly, and the day was as 
enjoyablein such weather and suchscenery as is conceivable. We 
were accompanied by a Scotch gentleman of the name of Wood, 
the engineer of the new line, who to his many other accom- 
plishments is a clever draughtsman. Just before halting, the 
Honister Pass, Buttermere and Crummock water came in view. 
Buttermere is small, only one and a quarter miles by a little 
more than half-a-mile, and a plain sheet of water full of de- 
licious char, which lie in deep places and are not yet in season, 
at least we could not procure any for love or money. From 
Crummock the rocks rise perpendicularly, and the whole scene, 
bathed in the finest sunlight, was never witnessed in greater 
perfection, much of the water being blue like Geneva. Usually 
it rains hard there, and we might have gone twenty times with- 
out anything like such weather. There is only one miserable 
stuffy little inn at the place, and a more wretched little church, 
with an unfortunate parson, they told us, existing on a stipend 
of £40 a year, and blessed, as Dean Swift sometimes was, with a 
congregation consisting of the clerk and himself. With some 
little difficulty and alter a long delay — so strangely awkward 
and queer the people, who are wondrously ignorant of all about 
them- -we got a boat and rowed up Crummock water till we 
neared Scale Force, having a little sport by the way. The 
trout were in capital order, but being unable to carry them on 
horseback they were given to the boatman. The Cascade is 
the highest in the district. Owing to the dearth of rain, 
there was very little water, and the attenuated stream fell 
plumb 15G feet, like a long, delicate ostrich feather ; the big 



11 

walls of the chasm on either side of it were beautiful and fresh 
with rowans, hollies, hawthorn, wild flowers, ferns, oxalis, 
cedums, and lichens, dispersed in the most charming and 
fantastic manner possible. Of this waterfall our Scotch com- 
panion rapidly made a clever sketch. While waiting at the 
inn a carriage and pair drove up in almost wedding haste. 
The party consisted of four men and a youth. Each adult 
wore a veil round his hat, as if bound for the Derby at least, 
though there was little dust on that rocky road ; each was fur- 
nished with a bran new leather case about a cubic foot in size, 
and each shouldered a marvellous bundle of clean wood. They 
tumbled themselves out of the vehicle in a surprising style. 
Banting was diverted with the struggles undergone in the 
process of unknotting their legs and sticks, and we were all 
curious to make out what on earth they could be or might 
do first. One said, "Good heavens they're all cripples, look 
at their crutches!" — another, on seeing them get upon their 
legs, "No they are surgeons, there are the medicine chests 
and splints. Misery, an accident! where— where ?" Then 
they began squeaking and squirting as only Yankees can 
talk and spit, so that settled their nationality at once. 
In they rushed, higgledy piggledy, all first and none last, 
to order tea with ham and eggs, and off again. Such the 
introduction. With as much activity, the boy re-reading a 
letter from his troubled home, the men were at various points 
photographing like mad, thus explaining their odd belongings. 
When we took horse to return, tea and ham and eggs, Yankees 
and apparatuses had all skedaddled, which hurried way of 
doing scenery amused Banting amazingly. Whether our steeds 
had had an extra measure, or were glad to get away — whether 
the varlets, who stood bye enjoying the joke, had gingered the 
brutes, or they were severally and respectively possessed with a 
devil, it is out of my power to determine ; but on starting each 
beast behaved unaccountably ; in short, in the most outrage- 
ously cocktail manner possible. My cob, usually steady as a 
haystack, quite foigot himself. At first he ridiculously refused 
to let me mount at all, and even after yielding nothing could 
be more absurd than the snorts or " sneers." as a horsey autho- 
rity has it, with which he executed a. pas sev.l between a minuet 
and a hornpipe. The Scotchman and Master John, both 
well mounted with hands down, were off in a nice, and the 
playful kittens went tearing up the stony mountain road at a 
frightful pace. Banting was last out ; his gloves required but- 
toning, of course, and his cigar was only just alight. His 
slashing mare, with her rakish shoulders, deep chest, rave back 
ribs, powerful arms and thighs, lean head, and wiry neck, 
stotted, bounded, and curvetted in the most insane way. He 
was in the saddle, certainly, but there was no time for stirrups, 
and, alas ! his hat was jerked off, which spoilt the picture— but 
for that, no one would have known the whole affair was not 
intended and well done, so admirably did he sit at home at 
ease. Properly we should have returned by the Ifonister Pass 
and Borrowdale, but the distance would then have been in- 
creased by three miles, and our dislike to rapid travelling in 
such heat, amidst such beauty, combined with Banting's objection 
to being hurried or late for dinner, turned the scale in favour of 

c 



12 

retracing our steps exactly. It is difficult to decide which is 
the finer route, the journey or the return —but it is well to lin- 
ger over both ways through Newlands. At first, if we had a 
summer sunlight, we were afterwards, if possible, more charmed 
with the warm flood of golden evening, and the shadows, in 
one place like a great bear '3 skull, while at the head of Crum- 
mock, a ridge on the mountain side, another shadow, with 
the outline of the rock assisting, curiously resembled a brace 
of setteis standing at dead point. It was just about half- 
way in this delightful ride we observed the yellow sycamores 
mentioned yesterday, like that on Stainmoor. Had they 
been painted, folks would have thought them unnatural — 
indeed, only Alfred Hunt,, Brett, or young John Linnell dared 
essay their vivid light, in any landscape. We arrived at the 
George punctually at eight, the time appointed, allowing us 
lots of leisure for tub and toilet, before 8 '30 sharp, when din- 
ner was served. Like all the good hotels in the lake district, 
and they abound, this preserves a character for scrupulous 
cleanliness. The linen, the plate, and the glass were unex- 
ceptionable in all respects. Situated in a street, it is shut out 
from all view of the lake by Mrs Dewar's boarding-house, the 
respectable head of which establishment is always keenly on 
the look-out for the " Exquisite coach," and never so radiant 
as when that vehicle is clustered with tourists. The George, 
however, has the advantage of her garden, for from our win- 
dows we looked down upon lilacs and laburnums in full bloom. 
Of course, Banting had ordered dinner ; it is quite a treat to 
see him calmly go through that necessary and pleasing duty. 
" To study where he well may dine," he strictly observes as a 
species of devotional morning exercise. All I stipulated for was 
trout, which came from Windermere, fried parsley, cucumber 
cut in junks, not in thin slices, a boiled leg of lamb, with acid 
rhubarb sauce, and plenty of new potatoes. The repast was 
perfect ; each dish with its accessories being admirably served 
individually, and dressed without a fault. All the wine, too, 
was good and cool, while nothing could be more delicious than 
the water from Skiddaw. At Portinscale, at the foot, and at 
Lodore, at the head of the lake, are large hotels. In Keswick 
itself also there is quite a group of them, but I doubt whether 
there is to be found a hostelry so liberally purveyed as, or 
better managed than, that we enjoyed. The house is kept by a 
widow, Mrs Beethom, who with her daughters see personally, 
without forwardness or fuss, to the comfort of everybody. 
They thoroughly understand their work, the eldest daughter, 
though quite young, being an unusually clever woman of busi- 
ness ; indeed, she is the lubricating oil of the whole machinery, 
and I can heartily recommend the establishment iu every way. 
Now this was a toughish day, and another pleasant one. 
Having left the subject short, let me say those requiring it may 
take a cup of chocolate or coffee with a biscuit on rising, at 
4 '40 ; but I maintain that in travelling a man best divides the 
day by starting work at five, continuing till at least eleven, 
breakfasting and resting till near two, then again at work till 
eight or nine o'clock, dining at half after ; bed at eleven, or 
half an hour later, and a bath before each meal, not forgetting 
Banting's injunction to sponge the head well as soon as you get 



13 

up ; he says it takes the cobwebs eut of one's brains— and he's 
not far wrong. By this means the intensity and inconvenience 
of heat are avoided, one is never fagged, and the finest lights 
are .secured. If you walk, of course, always soap your socks. 
Between 4 and 5 p.m. a glass of absinthe — of which invigorating 
liqueur the Messrs Plews, of Darlington, supply the best— or a 
cup of good tea, may be desirable. 

19th May. — Yesterday we arranged with Atkinson to have 
an early fishing excursion upon what he called "an out-and- 
out grand scale." Of course, he promised everything, and 
to guarantee success would "engage a noted sportsman." 
named Bowe, I think, "who never failed, and provide ISO 
trimmers at least !" The man might just as well have said 
365 when he was at it, but perhaps he wished to be moderate. 
However, after a ticket from the Vale of Derwentwater angling 
company had been obtained, for which the charge was the 
moderate sum of Is, we changed our minds, not liking the 
trouble of being down by "5 a.m. at latest," with the 
probability of disappointment similar to my own ; it was 
far better as it turned out, for we were all three a 
little fagged with the unusual heat, and one was amiss. 
I am ashamed to confess that nine o'clock found me in bed, 
though the morning wa3 just as glorious as yesterday's. Our 
mutual friend, with the old head on young shoulders, alas ! 
was suffering the excruciating disturbance a wisdom tooth often 
occasions. His illness threw a damper over us, so Banting and 
myself waited upon the doctor and called him in. ne was a very 
intelligent, pleasant, and even common-sense man, too, though 
in that condition of extravagant bliss which is said immediately 
to precede matrimony. "Going to be married, are you?" 
we said. " Lucky birds— we'll chalk you out a tour." Banting 
then became as excited as his idiosyncrasy would permit ; but, 
ever ready to make happy people happier, and dull ones too, 
he observed, referring in the most impertinent way to me, 
" Drybones ! will help us, I know. Where's your Bradshaw ?" 
so at it we went, chapter and verse, for 1 6 days in and out of 
London. The hotels were all spotted, and what to see in Paris, 
Basle, Lucerne, Strasbourg, Cologne, Brussels, and Antwerp! 
&c, and, of course, how long to remain in each place. At two 
o'clock, our patient being somewhat recovered, we were on 
horseback, and passing the house in which Souihey lived, and 
the mother church, his honoured resting place, we marched 
through rich valleys, nestled among beautiful mountain ranges, 
by the blue and placid waters of sunny Bassenthwaite calmly 
sleeping at the base of bigSkiddaw, bound for Peel Wyke, where 
the bog myrtle casts its spicy fragrance on the air. The wise 
tooth having become intolerable, we left its unfortunate owner 
to rest at " The Swan with Two Necks," where that quaintly 
comfortable specimen of humanity and kindness, the landlady, 
whom we called alter her own sign, tho' unlike a swan of any 
variety conceivable, earnestly recommended a poultice made of 
porridge ! ' ' Alas, poor Yorick !" The new railwav to Cocker- 
mouth follows in great measure the old road a distance of 15 
miles, and the line running by the very edge of Bassenthwaite, 
presents another most beautiful avenue to Keswick. Banting 



14 

and I enjoyed the little ride to Peel Wyke much. He is grent 
at wild flowers and ferns, with which the woods and banks 
abound ; happily for me he is not so well up in trees and 
horticulture, so there " I had him on the hip." But nothing 
is pleasanter than an agreeable chatty companion, full of in- 
formation, ready alike to impart and receive it. This neigh- 
bourhood, though they say the variety of flowers is not so great 
as in that around Windermere, yet, I think it richer in ferns. 
Above one of the bays of Derwentwater, upon Sir John Wood- 
ford's property near Portinscale, the osmunda regalis flourishes 
almost as luxuriantly as near Killarney, and attains really a 
prodigious growth. In Borrowdale, the aplenium septentrio- 
nale is found, and very rare indeed it is. The silvery ceterach 
officiuarum, the bortrychium lunaria, the ophioglossutn vulga- 
tum, ruta muraria, blechnum boreale, lastrea rigida, polypodies, 
and phegopteris are common about Keswick and the base of 
Skiddaw. In several places, but particulai-ly yesterday in 
ascending Newlands, we found the parsley fern almost by the 
acre, and the oak fern, with its lovely green and hair-like stem, 
■was in cushions here and there. Purple-stalked lady ferns, the 
sporting fllix mas, indeed almost endless varieties of these inte- 
resting plants with awkward names, abounded ; but there were 
very few scolopendriums of any kind, at least so far as I saw, 
though the vulgare is reported common. Among so many rarer 
specimens, it was odd to miss so very ordinary a species, and 
as strange not to find many polystichums. The common spleen- 
wort (asplenium trichomanes) flourishes at Ambleside ; the 
adiantum nigrum, at TJUswater ; the Cystopteris fragilis, near 
Ara force ; the Woodsia ilvensis, near Bowness ; the Lastrea 
oreopteris, at Fairfield ; the Polypodium calcareum, at Kendall 
Fells ; the Asplenium viride, on Scout Scar ; the Hymenophyl- 
lum Wilsoni, near Lodore and Scale force ; Lycopods at 
Kirkston, Great Gable, Ennerdale, Wastwater, Bowfell, Lang- 
dale, Skiddaw, and Helvellyn. Banting knew them all, and 
so did old Atkinson, who supplies them when written to, 
at least when he does not forget, which will be nine times 
out of ten. But the jolliest thing would be to hunt in 
couples for them ourselves, for which we had no time this 
journey. At reel Wyke there will be a station and an hotel, 
the latter erected after the design, in Baronial Scotch, of Mr 
Ross, of Darlington, on Sir Henry Vane's property, which, like 
many others in these parts, will be materially enhanced by the 
opening of railway communication. This place will turn out 
one of the most favourite fishing quarters with which to start 
an angling tour. The lake always affords good sport, and there 
are undeniable trout streams within easy distance. At length 
we returned to ''Old Mother Goose," picked up Master 
Yorick, much recovered by his rest, and quietly walked 
home for dinner at the George, which was as perfectly arranged 
as that of yesterday. Our mutual friend was still obliged, as 
he said, "to hold his jaw," poor fellow, much to our loss, for 
what with "his gibes and gambols, his songs and flashes of 
merriment, he is wont to set the table in a roar."' 

The clever young mistress of the house called the puddings on 
both days " Windermere ;" but I recollect five and thirty years 
ago bringing the receipt for precisely the same dish from Cum- 



15 

berland, under the name of "Castle," and few things of the 
kind are better. This is it : — Equal weights of eggs in the 
shell, flour and white sugar, with half the quantity of butter, 
put into cups and baked in a quick oven. They should turn 
out of a delicate fawn colour. They are like hot little sponge 
cakes, and are excellent eaten cold, with a good custard for 
those who like it. Ours were served with sugared melted but- 
ter, and a dash of cognac in it. A table-spoonful of fine old 
rum is what the Germans would adopt, and they are great at 
sweets. But the best sauce I know is clear arrowroot, with a 
wine-glassful of orange brandy. Don't know how it is made ? 
Well ! now 'tis beyond the season ; but when Easter comes 
round again, don't forget to put the very thin peel of eight 
Seville oranges and eight plump lemons, a gallon of the 
finest new pale cognac, with 31bs of the best white sugar, into a 
covered jar. Stir the mixture thoroughly twice a-day for three 
successive days, then strain and bottle it into white glass 
bottles, and let them stand on end some time. Strain off the 
clear liqueur, and don't allow the smallest sediment to mix 
with it — mind take heed of that. Let the sediment remaining 
from each bottle be put together, and after it has well settled 
strain off the clear liqueur again, bottle, and hermetically seal 
the corks. The remainder will do for the shooting flask. The 
peel is useful for culinary purposes when diied ; the pulp makes 
good marmalade, and the liqueur itself improves with age. In 
two years even, it is far better than most sorts one buys ; and 
after blackpuddingsorice is as fine as curasoasec at 10s a-bottle. 
And you don't know how to make English chutney? Really, I 
am so glad of the opportunity, I am sure. Take lib brown 
sugar, Jib bruised ginger (fresh if you can get it), Jib of garlic, 
the same quantity of ordinary onions, sliced and pounded tine, 
^lb of mustard seed— toasted before the fire, but not bruised, 
mind that — gib of raisins— stoned and chopped very fine, though 
Sultanas are perhaps better in every way and less trouble, as 
they may be used whole — Joz. of cayenne, 3 pints of white vine- 
gar— that made from hock grapes, or white currants is the 
best. 15 sour apples, peeled and coved, must be well sim- 
mered in the vinegar and thoroughly bruised. When cold, put 
in all the other ingredients, and mix them together. Now, T 
am never without this pickle, for which if made at this season 
substitute green grapes or gooseberries for the apples. She was 
so agreeable and ready to take in and profit by hints in cookery 
that we got on famously. It was happily unlike the too common 
talking to a dead wall on so important a subject. One great 
reason of our having servants absolutely ignorant of the most 
rudimentary culinary art is that their mistresses in far too many 
instances are unable to instruct them in manipulation. In 
Glasgow, when a young lady is engaged, she undergoes a regu- 
lar tuition, from the simplest to the highest effort in the kit- 
chen. Now, listen a moment ; here is a very economical, and 
at the same time most excellent, soup you ought always to have 
in stock. It should be almost colourless, and as clear as water. 
Take 71b of the knee or hock of beef, the bone sawn into three ; 
add i quarts of water, skim well on boiling, then add 2 
carrots, 2 turnips (if you like them— or 2 Jerusalem arti- 
chokes), 2 sticks, or a pinch of the seed, of celery, 4 onions, 



16 

and a bunch of herbs — any kinds and all sorts you Lave. 
In a muslin bag put 12 pepper corns, 6 cloves, and 2 blades 
of mace. Then simmer the whole together for four hours, 
straia frequently, putting the meat on a dish before serving ; 
add as much of it (the meat) as you like, but observe the best 
is the gristle and tendons next the joint. It is called Col. 
Wood's turtle. We might have gone on for hours, Banting was 
so attentive — 

Behold ! his breakfasts shiue with reputation ; 
His dinners are the wonder of the nation ; 
With these he treats both commoners and quality, 
Who praise, where 'er they go, his hospitality— 

but we did not, tho' it was impossible resisting giving her a 
receipt for orange jelly, which is so far superior to the opaque 
kind one generally meets with. Pour upon an oz. and a half of 
gelatine half a pint of cold water. Soak half an hour, then stir 
in half a pint of boiling water until it is dissolved. Break 
three-quarters of a pound of loaf sugar into lumps, and rub 
them upon some of the rinds of the oranges and lemons to give 
flavour. Squeeze the juice of twelve China oranges and four 
lemons, strain off the pips of course, and mix with the 
other ingredients in a sauce pan, stirring until the sugar is toler- 
ably dissolved. Have ready three fresh eggs, well beaten with 
the shells, stir them briskly into the jelly, after which be care- 
ful not to stir them again. Put it on the fire and let it boil 
five minutes. Then take it off, and allow it to stand two or 
three minutes before passing it through the jelly bag. It 
should turn out brilliantly clear. There now, young lady, and 
all who haven't done so yet, try that, when fresh fruit come in. 
Notwithstanding our invalid's condition he perked up won- 
derfully as the evening stole on, accepted a challenge from a 
noted player, whose card was sent up, and won the rubber at 
billiards in gallant style. There's pluck for you. The con- 
versation after dinner was animated and interesting, turning 
chiefly upon the early history of the County. Banting is a 
sort of " book in breeches" for dates and derivations, having 
ethnology and etymology equally at command. We had the 
brave old Saxons talked over, who came from the district 
betwixt the Elbe and the Rhine, and withstood the mighty 
power of Charlemagne for two and thirty years, and whose 
numbers in England never exceeded one million and a 
half, notwithstanding their influence. The Danes too, God 
help them now, to whose country, by the accidental wreck 
of a vessel on the coast, the Lake District owes her breed 
of hornless, hardy, little, grey-faced sheep called Herdivick, 
which stand starvation better than any known species, and 
when fat yield capital mutton. From the Danes we English 
in a vast measure derive our love of truth, our indomitable 
courage, our home affection, our enterprise on sea and land ; 
while it is admitted our constitutional ideas of freedom and 
representative Government, trial by jury, and other noble 
kindred institutions, sprang from the deep root planted in our 
grateful soil by the ancestry of those for whom our liveliest 
sympathies are now more than ever excited. Their first incur- 
sion is assumed to have taken place in 787, but their conquest, 



17 

or rather their motive of action, differed widely from that of 
the Saxons, who came to settle, inasmuch as it was undisguisedly 
to harry, and steal home with. Yet they stamped the people 
indelibly with their imperishable and invaluable character, 
while to this day no less than 60 per cent, of our language is 
directly derivable from their own— such their force. We 
went beyond these Norsemen and the Saxons to the ancient 
Britons, whom Bauting would persist in calling .Kelts — we 
argued for Celts, but he was, as usual, inexorably proper ; 
so Johnny 'woke up from his drowsiness with pain to ask if he 
went to Parry (Paris) last Easter. Now, there is much obscu- 
rity about these Celts, who migrated hither from the Continent at 
some dim prehistoric period, though they have left their names on 
almost every prominent natural object. Intrepid and warlike, 
their most powerful tribes were called Brigantes by the Romans, 
but Cymri or Cumbri by themselves, and hence the Saxon term 
Cumberland (i.e. ), the land of the Kumbri. They occupied the 
whole territory extending from sea to sea, its southern limit 
commencing from the Mersey and the Humber, and extending 
northward to the district we call Northumberland and the 
lowlands of Scotland. The violent dissensions of their chiefs, 
tho' the last in the island to succumb, made them more than 
otherwise an easy prey to the Romans. The conquest of Britain by 
the Romans, commencing 55 B.C. , was early interrupted, though 
Julius established a sort of Government ere his recall home, and 
England was left unmolested for an interval reaching to A.D. 
43, when Claudius Caesar completed the victory over a great 
part of the island, his army perpetrating atrocities unheard of. 
The final subjugation was accomplished, however, A.D. 80, when 
Agricola marched his legions by Mancunium (Manchester), 
along the western coast of Scotland, where he erected a chain 
of forts from the Frith of Forth to the Clyde, and then boldly 
pushing back through the conquered tribes four years later, he 
erected the celebrated chain of Stations from the Solway to 
Tynemouth, which were afterwards conuected by an earthen 
rampart in the reign of Hadrian. The object of this great 
work was to check the Caledonians, who bade defiance 
to the Roman Eagle which swooped over our own kingdom 
till overmatched by them and the Saxons in 446. Nor did 
we forget the Bards and Druids, of whom the destroying 
host of Claudius made such hideous work, and whose mention 
sent Banting off to the piano and Norma. Their government 
was strictly that of a Priesthood, and therefore of irresponsible 
power; but oddly enough, they were upright and dispensed 
justice, not from any written code of settled law it is true, but 
on the immutable principles of equity. Their highest penalty 
was death, and their second excommunication, which was even 
more dreaded ; but nothing could possibly be more solemn 
than their execution of criminals, the victims being immolated 
upon the very altars of their Temples, with every awful 
circumstance tending to impress and overawe the multi- 
tude. Their religious ceremonies were few, and idolatry 
was not practised by them. They adored the God of Nature 
without the trammels of superstition, or crafty dogmas 
elevated into essentials. Their principles were taught in 
public, and a moral life, in its strictest and Its widest 



18 

sense, they inculcated as the foundation of human wisdom 
and the source of human happiness. They eagerly 
studied medicine and the virtues of plants, the misletoe 
being their chief specific. To a man they opposed the Roman 
invasion, and hence by sheer weight to a man were they 
cut down. Great as engineers, they have left monuments of 
their skill almost as remarkable as those of the Egyptians. 
Stone circles in Cumberland and Westmoreland, of frequent 
occurrence as they are, must not, however, be attributed solely 
to the Druids, as there is good reason for believing that the 
majority of these curious rings were constructed by the 
Northmen. Ferguson fairly enough suggests, considering 
their constantly recurring visits, that they are relics of the 
hcemegang, a species of single combat, which, as its name im- 
plies, was originally held in a holme or island, but in inland 
situations a place artificially enclosed was substituted for con- 
venience. Hence, also, Lord Ellesraere, in his "Guide to 
Northern Archseology," says it is supposed to account for the 
quadrangular enclosures found in Denmark and other Scandi- 
navian countries. Tidemand,* whose admirable picture, "A 
Norwegian Duel," commands the admiration of all art-lovers in 
this year's Academy, has made these strange combats a pecu- 
liar study, and there may have been many a " duel of the 
girdle" practised in Arthur's Ring, near Penrith, that hard- 
bye Keswick, and other stone circles in the lake district, for 
aught we know, as the Danes then, as now, were the most obsti- 
nate devils to fight, and never knew when they were licked. 

Then we got upon the subject of turnpike roads, which were 
established between 1750 and 'GO. To the present day through- 
out the district there are very few "gates" to pay, which is a 
monstrous comfort, and the horses and vehicles are unexception- 
able. In 1752 the act was obtained for a road betweeu Keigliley 
to Kendal, and another from Heron Syke (where it joins the Lan- 
caster road) to Eamont Bridge, near Brougham Post-chaises 
were introduced in 1754, carrier's waggons in 1757, and the first 
stage coach, drawn by six horses, and called "the Plying Ma- 
chine,'' was seen in the county in 1763. The mail-coach passing 
through Carlisle and Kendal from Glasgow to Manchester, began 
to run 1786. In 1792 an act was passed for opening a canal 
from Kendal by way of Lancaster and Preston to join the Leeds 
and Liverpool canal ; and in 1819 for another canal from Solway 
Frith to Carlisle. The Railway was opened to Carlisle 18th June, 
1838, and in 1846 Penrith received that invaluable boon of 
modern civilisation. Our chat was so pleasant that Banting 
and I had a struggle over just a single bottle of claret, which 
our younger friend said required to be seen to be believed ; 
however, the night was so hot I could not face billiards, but 
stole away to bed before midnight, after another enjoyable day. 
The moon was radiant, but blaming the night expedition of 
Tuesday last for making the wise tooth angry, no suggestion of 
the "calendar," of course, was made. 

May 20. — This morning was intensely hot ; without an inter- 
vening cloud, the sun was positively scorching, and there was 
not a breath of wind to stir even an aspen leaf or the delicate 

See Appendix. 



19 

foliage of the thorny acacia. Yesterday they said the glass 
Stood at S4° in the shade, and the day previous but 2° lower ; 
what it was early to day I never heard, hut before eight a.ra. it 
could not have been much under 90°, and the surface of the 
limpid lake, gleaming like polished glass, resembled the clearest 
oil. In passing over it one could see with the greatest ease 
the fish lying lazily at the bottom, or slowly moving in their 
transparent •element, and the few weeds were beautiful. 
HaviDg, almost in vain, tried to arouse snoring Atkinson, with 
whom I wished to have a pull upon the water, by mere acci- 
dent a rook-shooting party overtook me, and being recognised 
by Mr Wood, was kindly asked to accompany them to Lord's 
Island, the largest on the Lake, once the seat of the Radcliffes, 
or Ratcliffes, and therefore interesting by association. I never 
beheld any effect in my life so delicious as the reflections. 
Marshall's Island was so accurately repeated, even to the most 
subtle tone and gradations of line, that had it been photo- 
graphed from life the picture would have presented as much 
correctness on one side as the other— like Col. Stobart's gem 
of a Turner in the Bishop Auckland Polytechnic just closed. 
The wooded, gorsey hills on the other side produced the most 
charming bits of colour ; and I often wonder how it is that 
far-receding objects are thus represented at such a dist ance. At 
Vevey, for instance, the summit of Mont Blanc is reflected 
beneath, though it is miles and miles away. Oh ! there'3 
nothing like early morning for clear light and air. 

" Magnificent 
The morning rose, in memorable pomp, 
Glorious as e'er I had beheld— in front 
The lake lay laughing at no distance ; around 
The solid mountains shone, bright as the clouds, 
Gorse-tinctured, drenched in empyrean light ; 
, And in the meadows and the lower grounds, 
Was all the sweetness of a common dawn — 
Dews, vapours, and the melody of birds, 
And labourers going forth to till the fields." 
The row was delightful ; the floating island had submerged 
since August, but St. Herbert's Isle, Ramp's Holme, Vicar's Isle, 
looked serene and lovely. Arrived at the rookery, we managed 
to make a fair bag of the inglorious game. Mr Wood's minie was 
a very handy weapon, once the property of a New Zealand 
chief. Finding I had never used a rifle, he kindly gave me five 
shots, the first brace of which struck an outer right and left, 
the second grazed each bird also right and left, while the fifth 
bullet hit the mark to a hair, which was pretty well for a 
novice. Returning towards breakfast- time, a very ominous and 
angry ripple came upon the lake with a chill. The wind had 
changed, a storm approached, not a fish rose, and clouds " at 
first no bigger than a man's hand," soon packed and massed 
themselves together, foretelling weather. In 1S39, when that 
furious wind occurred so many will remember as devastating 
fine estates in this country and in Ireland, the effect on Der- 
wentwater was singular. The fearful gusts reached the very 
bottom of the Lake, and blew bushels upon bushels of fish 
upon the shore ; even those varieties like char and vendace 
(a species ot fresh water herring like those in Como) which 
lie in the deepest holes. Since then, char are unknown in it, 



20 

those left being pike, perch, and trout — none of them great 
weights. After breakfast it was arranged we should visit the sta- 
tion for Keswick, now in course of erection, and close bye the 
new hotel, also in progress. The well-selected site is on rising 
ground by the river Greta, at the foot of the Skiddaw, and in 
one of the finest amphitheatres of the district. The 
blinding dust whirled about, and the sky but lately so clear 
was completely overcast— there was more than a threaten- 
ing of rain, yet we reached the spot, and returned to the hotel 
without a ducking. The station and the hotel are each built of 
Borrowdale slate, but the former has ordinary stone facings, 
while the latter presents the most admirable eflect, owing to a 
beautiful rosy freestone from Lamenby, near Penrith, having 
been adopted by the tasteful architect, Mr Boss, whom we had 
the good fortune to meet on the spot. He was kind enough to 
show us his plans, and explain all their detail. No one better 
than this rising young man more thoroughly understands econo- 
mical interior accommodation ; the elevation also of his work 
in hand does him infinite credit. By way of increasing the 
importance of the building its plinth is boldly bevelled, 
which produces a wonderful improvement upon the ordinary 
plumb line from the base. Whether the railway company will 
retain this hotel, for which it is said £500 a-year rental has 
been already offered, in their own hands or no, the course of 
events alone will solve ; and whether a select body of directors 
will start the little Saltburn games, and become commissioners 
ever ready to improve the occasion, time will shew. The sites 
of the two new railway victualling ventures, one at the extreme 
East, the other at the West of the Darlington Section, are almost 
equally perfect ; but the conditions precedent are widely 
different. At the sea side everything is raw and untried, 
entailing therefore on the shareholders enormous annual loss, 
besides the outlay of dead capital to an amount that has never 
yet been admitted. At Keswick, however, there is an old 
point of attraction, a long established good will, to which the 
readier means of access will at the very outset give increased 
impetus, and such undoubtedly will be the rush of visitors that 
too much or too excellent accommodation can scarcely be pro- 
vided. As yet the Zetland Hotel is useful only as a sort of 
educational establishment, in which directors and their special 
friends may be initiated into the mysteries of refined French 
cookery, and is scarcely resorted to by staying company, in 
consequence no doubt of the expensive charges, and an abso- 
lute dearth of diversion which a place requiring so much loose 
cash should afford. But. inasmuch as practically the same 
directory is at work in both places, it is to be hoped the share- 
holders' patience will not be pushed to extremity at both ends 
of the line, for notwithstanding individual advantage to the 
few may be secured at the expense of collective loss, there is a 
limit which prudence dictates. How venial soever it may 
be that railway companies should erect hotels as a commercial 
speculation in connection with their undertakings, it seems to 
the most casual observer extremely questionable policy in 
directors or any section of such a body becoming Licensed 
Victuallers personally or by deputy, quite independent of the 
question of the absurd inconsistency of such traffic on the part 



21 

of strict teetotallers and supporters of Mr Somes, as some are. 
Let me not be understood to convey the idea that the Saltburn- 
by-the-Sea charges, though high, are extravagant. If people 
will indulge in diners & la Russe admirably served, with wine 
as good as a man need wish to drink, of course they must put 
money in their purse. What I mean to indicate is that such 
an hotel as that erected in such a place, and managed as it is 
by a committee, is not conducted in the way one would deal 
with one's own speculations. For if any person incapable of 
keeping a public was rash enough to make a similar venture he 
would surely count the cost, and avoid a positive annual loss 
of something little short of a handsome income if the truth was 
told ; what the actual amount is I cannot make out from pub- 
lished accounts, and forbear all questions. We three have had 
experience of these diners d, la Russe. Not with direc- 
tors and their favorites, mind; but quiet little parties of 
eight and ten. The ChSf, Mr Clift, is decidedly one of 
the most accomplished artists of the day, and with so little 
help as he had, with kitchen accommodation so ill and 
ignorantly arranged, it is nothing short of marvellous that his 
success was so complete as we found it on two occasions lately. 
I have enjoyed the highest efforts of as many of the best cooks as 
most fellows in my time and of my class, yet for sauce Tartare 
— whitebait— consomme de volatile aux points des aspergese— 
petites bouch6es a la Sultana — curry — iced gooseberry fool — 
one of the very best things out at this season— crime au 
chocoldt, and crime ct la pistacke, commend me to the Zetland 
Hotel — aye and pic-nics, honeymoons, afternoon or evening 
entertainments of any description, if the guests are beyond the 
capacity of one's own house or service. That, however, 
is not the question at issue. It is a great point un- 
doubtedly to be able to get what you are willing to pay for, 
which nobody has had a chance of achieving in the North 
at any hotel I know of equal to this. At Keswick a de- 
mand will be supplied— at Saltburn the supply is demanded at 
a positive and long-extended dead loss. The place will well 
answer the anticipations and suit the book of the Improvement 
Commissioners, who have bought land cheap and dispose of it 
at a high price, as well as all who have building material in 
stock ; but is the venture for the benefit of the share- 
holders, and as the Hotel is built, should it not be let 
to an active, competent, and guaranteed person in the trade ? 
" Shylock ! the world thinks, and I think so too," that the 
whole thing is " a mistake," which Talleyrand said " was worse 
than a crime." 

We had much interesting conversation with Mr Ross and 
Mr Boulton, who also happened to be at the station, upon 
the minerals and the produce of the Lake district generally with 
reference to the future development by the railway system. 
The fine blue slate, of which the hotel was being constructed, is 
yielded in almost inexhaustible supply from Borrowdale and the 
Honister Pass, as well as from the Patterdale end of Ullswater. 
At present, owing to cartage, it is very expensive, the price per 
yard for roofing being something like 4s 3d, which so soon as 
the line is opened will be reduced by at least one shilling, and 
that will make a mateiial difference per ton. Limestone is also 



22 

abundant. Tn some places it is burnt in large quantities, and 
sent into the West of Scotland, the produce at Alston alone ii» 
1856 being 2,411 tons. Cumberland appears to have possessed 
manufactories at a very early period. There were fulling-mills 
at Cockermouth and Dearham in the reign of Henry III. A 
fustian manufactory was established in Carlisle in 1660, and one 
of broad cloth at Cockermouth about the same date. Some 30 
years afterwards there were iron forges at Millom, and fulling- 
mills at Bassenthwaite where woollen cloths called " Skiddaw 
greys" were dressed. The cotton trade is located principally 
at Carlisle. A manufactory of coarse linen, sail-cloth, and such 
like at Whitehaven and other places. Taper is made exten- 
sively on several of the rivers ; woollen fabrics at Keswick, as- 
shewn by an ancient inscviption on a flagstone — 

" May God Almighty grant his aid 
To Keswick and its woollen trade." 

Earthenware, copperas, &e, , at different points, while at White- 
haven, Workington, and Maryport there are several ship-build- 
ing yards. The present Lord Lonsdale is constructing magni- 
ficent docks at Workington, and those at Whitehaven are by no 
means despicable. Formerly considerable salt-works existed at 
Bransted, Whitehaven, Nether/all, Workington, and elsewhere 
in the county, and it is said the Romans worked an iron mine not 
far from Keswick. The plumbago or wad of Borrowdale, as the 
lead is called of which drawing pencils are made, is worked irre- 
gularly, and the price remains prohibitive, but now that so large a 
supply of graphite is coming from Sweden and Siberiaat compara- 
tively the most trifling cost, no increase of trade need be expected 
hereabouts from this hitherto exceptional mineral. Cobalt has 
been found in small quantities in Newlands, where we were on 
Wednesday, antimony at Bassenthwaite, lapis calarainaris, 
manganese, galena, and spars of various kinds throughout the 
neighbourhood. The yield oi lead is very large, and will form 
a considerable item of mineral traffic. Alston is the principal 
site of the mines which are almost exclusively the property of 
the Commissioners of Greenwich Hospital, to whom they were 
granted by Act of Parliament on the attainder of the Earl of 
Derwentwater, whose possessions were immense in Cumber- 
land, though neither they nor his influence saved his noble 
head in those dark and bloody times. In 18-61, seventy nine 
lead mines in Cumberland and six in Westmorland yielded 
6,324 and 2,392 tons respectfully, and the quantity of silver 
extracted fiom the former was 37,115 oz., as against the 3>9 
mines in Northumberland and Durham yielding 19.536 tons 
and 78,261 oz. respectively. Tke quantity of ore yielded from 
the former counties in 1856 was 7,311 tons, containing 
5,321 tons of pure lead and as much as 51,931 ou»ces 
of pure silver. They said both silver and copper are often 
found in some of the mines in the same veins as the lead ore. 
The piincipal mass of the carboniferous limestone and iron- 
producing districts iu the northern counties emerges from 
beneath the coal measures of Northumberland and Durham on 
the East, and U bounded by a steep declivity commanding the 
valley of the Eden on the West. I», reaches its culminating 
point on the long mountain range of Cross fell, and form* 



23 

the vast tract of moorland in the neighbourhood of Alston, 
about 425 miles in width ; and in the high and dreary region ad- 
joiningthe Scottish borderextends nearlyfrom sea to sea. After an 
interval of some miles towards the West the same formation again 
rises from beneath the new red sandstone of Penrith, and the coal- 
measures of Workington and Whitehaven — lapping, so to speak, 
as a narrow belt or zone around the older slaty rocks of the lake 
district, which it almost entirely encircles, In the north, the 
actual limestone plays but a subordinate part,5and alternates 
with a grit-stone, shale, and other rubbish. A shaft sunk, for 
instance, near Cleator, shows as follows : — 

Ft. in. 

Dark shale 156 

Coarse grit 36 

Shale 30 

Whirlstone 12 

Shale 54 o 

Red limestone ^ n 

Shale 1 s 

Hematite pierced to a depth of 32 

328 8 

The hematite (red ore, sesqui-oxide of iron) from the neigh- 
bourhood of Whitehaven, is unquestionably the most valuable 
mineral, from which so much commerce is certain to flow from 
West to East, for the purpose of judicious blending with the leaner 
product there. Tt occurs in the carboniferous limestone, near 
the outcrop. The greater part of the excavations whence it is 
extracted are subterraneous, but at a place called Tod-holes, 
near Cleator, it rests so near the surface as to be worked by a 
simple open cutting. The floor of the deposit is a white and 
red mottled shale almost of the nature of fire-clay, and belongs 
to the limestone series. Bore-holes have been sunk in it to 
the depth of 30 or 40 feet without meeting with any other 
intervening material ! It varies in places from 15 feet in thick- 
ness, and is for the most part a dense mass of red ore, sub- 
divided by irregular and nearly vertical joints. Small cavities 
rarely occur adjacent, when the ore assumes those botryoidal 
forms commonly called kidney, and the lumps or clustered nodules 
are certainly as like beast kidneys as they well can be. In such 
parts rock crystals are found, and calcareous spar and areogonite 
appear to be the last substances which have crystallized in the 
hollows. The ore almost invariably occurring in basins, it is 
doubtful whether it is a vein or bed. The quantity produced 
in 1856 was 267,256 tons, of which 8,089 were yielded from 
the Alston district, the rest being from that of Whitehaven. 
These quantities, however, must have been immensely increased 
since, owing to the facilities of transit obtained by way of 
Tebay, thongh in the year mentioned 51,470 tons were con- 
veyed to Newcastle and Middlesbro' alone, and the total pro- 
duce of pig iron in that year from the hematite furnaces of 
Lancashire and Cumberland was 25.530 tons. Millom pro- 
duced 2,268 tons of iron pyrites which sold for £l,100, and 
contained 47 per cent, ot sulphur. From the Alston mines 
443 tons of barytea (carbonate) were obtained, and 378 
tons of zinc valued at £1,400. The latest statistics we 
could find on the moment were iu 1861, when Cuinljeilaud 



24 

supplied 472,195 tons of ore, and 55,105 of pig Iron as against 
10,780, and 385,290 from Northumberland and Durham 
respectively. The seven copper mines in Cumberland and 
Lancashire raised 2,331 tons in the same year — in fact it is 
impossible to estimate the mineral wealth of the district, but 
by way of illustration we heard that only a few years ago a 
small estate was offered to one of the mining companies in the 
Western divison for £750. The purchase was declined, but 
they took the royalty, and have since paid the fortunate owner 
of the property as much as between three and four thousand 
a-year ; while the Arm, consisting only of four, annually divide 
something like the same amount per head — ao " it is an ill wind 
that blows nobody good." 

From both Mr Ross and Mr Boulton we received the most 
patient attention to our many inquiries, and hence these 
figures, all having an important bearing upon the question of 
the investment of the railway, to complete which they have so 
much at heart. In 1861, the 28 collieries of Cumberland 
raised 1,255,644 tons as against the 271 of Northumberland 
and Durham, whence 19,144,965 were yielded. With such 
prospects of developing, as well as latent, wealth in combina- 
tion with a neighbourhood of unrivalled attraction brought 
home to the east side of the island, no doubt whatever can rest 
upon the mind of the least hopeful that the Cockermouth, Pen- 
rith, and Keswick Railway is a venture with success assured. 
At the close of our conversation, Mr Boulton kindly shewed 
me his cabinet of minerals — and fine illustrative specimens 
indeed they were — found, as each was, in the district so soon 
to be opened out to the capitalist. The line is to be worked, 
so far as mineral traffic is concerned, by the Darlington section 
of the North-Eastern Company, while the North-Western take 
the passengers in hand. Such a duality revives the recollec- 
tion of the death of the oldest and most prosperous railway 
company in the kingdom, while it deepens the feeling that, if 
merger and amalgamation, suicide or methodical madness as 
some say, were really necessary — which independent share- 
holders are as loth as ever to believe— a union with the North- 
western, rather than the North-Eastern, was the obvious 
interest of all but the smallest minority. 

There was no doubt whatever about the impending storm, 
and but for the inconvenience of a wetting before reaching the 
Hotel, where however we were housed dry, the rain clouds and 
sweeping distantshowers added great effect to the beautiful scene 
from the site of the station. We had intended threading our 
way up the Greta, across which the new railway continually 
passes, and where by far the prettiest bits on the line will be, 
but that was now unfortunately out of the question. We 
thought, too, of visiting a little Methodist chapel, lately erected 
by Mr Ross, who has his hands full always here, which I had 
previously seen in the course oi construction, and much ad- 
mired ; but it was more prudent to postpone that pleasure. 
Banting's trap was counter-ordered, and we posted back to Pen- 
rith through a drenching rain, which no doubt benefited the 
thirsty land, although it came with an uncomfortable chill and 
aggravated the wise-tooth. 

On the road, excited by the previous investigation, we were led 



25 

to discuss the manufactories of the district, and found that in 
1 861 the comparative table ran thus : — 

_ CO »; H C3 



h «a £ 



6 3 "g o-S 

a 

WOOLLEN. 

Cumberland 10 .. 6,087 .. 30 . . 216 

Westmoreland 9 .. 17,724 .. 84 . . 492 

Lancashire 101 .. 227,655 .. 6,377 .. 9,227 

T ° U and wiles d } 1 ' 456 " L 846 - 850 •■ 2 °. 3 « •• 76 . 309 

FLAX. 

Cumberland 9 .. 27,442 .. 9 .. 1,325 

Westmoreland 3 .. 4,644 .. — .. 303 

Lancashire 13 .. 117,412 .. 489 . . 3,381 

T ° U an°d f Wa 8 le a s nd } 136 " 344 > 308 " 2 ' 160 •■ 20 ' 305 

COTTON. 

Cumberland 15 .. 136,212 .. 1,761 .. 3,281 

Lancashire 1,979 ..21,530,532 ..305,423 ..315,627 

T ° ta and Wates"* } 2 ' 715 " ' 28 > 352 > 125 • • 368,125 . . 407,598 

Both Cumberland and Westmoreland are important agricultural 
counties. As in the dales of Yorkshire, there is a vast number 
of yeomanry, small 'statesmen, rich and independent, as well 
as intensely obstinate, tenacious, pugnacious and litigious —every 
man holding by his own, and coveting the possession of land 
with the utmost pertinacity. The country where eligible is 
cultivated, but where in Scotland, dotted upon the mountain 
slopes and over the high moorland, one would see flocks of 
sheep, the number was comparatively small indeed ; and as for 
game between Penrith and Keswick and back again we did not 
count a single head. We joked Mr Boulton by the bye about his 
navvies' partiality for peaching ; but he replied his were a very 
decent set of fellows to deal with, with whom hitherto be had 
had neither strike nor trouble, having invariably accommo- 
dated their wants by anticipation, and tact of course, and that 
high preserving was not the fashion in the neighbourhood. 
One cannot take leave of such a place as Keswick without re- 
commending all interested in such sights to inspect Flintofi/s 
model in relief of the district, than which nothing gives so 
rapid and so truthful an idea of the country, as well as the best 
means of traversing it. Crossthwaite's museum should be seen 
also. He who collected it and invented the life- boat and the 
asolian harp died in 1808, but his intelligent daughters survive 
to explain the collection. Then, there is a gallery of the native 
artists — the Pettitt's pictures, well worth a visit — and a first- 
rate lapidary, Mr Furness, to call upon. From Mr Wright, the 
botanist, geologist, and mineralogist of the district, who lives in 
the town, every information may be gleaned within the range of 
his special and extensive studies, his repeated interviews with 
the King of Saxony, Sir Roderick Murchison, Professor Sedgwick, 
and other scientific men who have appealed to him for local 
help, constitute him as the authority to be relied upon. Those 
anxious for an unrivalled view, should at sunrise, at sunset, or 



26 

when the moon is up, by all means not neglect the Castle-head 
or hill. The place, close by the town, goes by each name, and 
on Us summit the unfortunate Derwentwaters reared a castle, 
whence the Countess, at once the instigatrix and participatress 
of the Earl's rashness, his joys and sorrows ending in cruel fate, 
escaped when he was captured for being "out," in 1715, after 
securing the family jewels and valuables, only to be uselessly 
sacrificed in his behest. At the journey's end, our quarters in 
Penrith were spacious and beautifully clean, but the cuisine and 
all the wine, without exception, were sadly inferior to what 
they gave us at the George, and the cold was so intense the 
first thing was ordering the fire to be lighted. The storm was 
evidently electric, though there was neither thunder nor 
lightning in the neighbourhood, and the rain was partial, 
notwithstanding a furious burst raged in so many parts of 
England, creating great destruction of life and property in ihe 
North East of Scotland, North of Ireland, South of England, 
Lancashire, Cheshire, North and East Ridings of Yorkshire, 
and whole of the county of Durham. 

May 2lst. — After the rain and cold of yesterday this morn- 
ing was bright, genial, and elastic, without, the least oppressive- 
ness in the 'atmosphere. We were about to suffer the loss of 
one of our party, for even had not business hastened his return, 
Yorick's constant suffering— poor fellow, he could not open his 
mouth to admit any thing beyond a teaspoon now— rendered 
home comforts imperative. Well, he left, and Banting, who is 
a gourmet to the back bone — choice almost to eccentricity in 
all his ways, his belongings, and his doings— said last night, 
"Now, this won't do, he's going, and two's almost as bad a 
number as one, for travelling ; we must have a third, even if 
the fellow does naught but listen and approve, you know — yet 
he might throw in an idea now and then, perhaps, by mistake, 
and that's something. So I have asked " Tom Jones " to 
join us." 

" Ah ! pleasant company he ought to be, if there's anything 
in a name— with all my heart, though we could have hobbled 
on together better than most couples, and I had all the picking 
of your brains to myself, yet perhaps that would have been 
selfish." 

" Ah ! here he is," and we were introduced. 

There's a picture of ruddy health for you, with as much 
intelligence as you'd see combined in a long day's march. 
Above the middle height, yet not tall — stout, broad, thickset 
and well put together— without an ounce of fat, or extra beef. 
Strong as a castle, and active as a kitten. Ilead well set upon 
the shoulders — ears small, and packed closely in— nose and 
mouth firm, without coarseness— hair crisp and fine, shewing 
the clear skin through it, but not thin — forehead broad and 
full, with the back of the head to match. Chin chiseled, hands 
and feet hard, clean made and not too small -step elastic, gait 
erect, action quick, without the slightest fuss. Complexion 
dark russet— eyes bright and penetrating, with a sweet expres- 
sion, and a set of regular white teeth, sharp enough to bite a 
badger's tail off. Not know what's in a man when his hat's on ! 
Why, sir, he would storm a fort, or woo a woman easily alike. 



27 

never turn :i hair at the heaviest of small hours — match a 

turkey in digestion — and go through any amount of calculations, 
when others were dead beat. Such was our new companion, 
with whom I at once took a stroll through the little town, in 
search of stereographs, which we soou discovered, very well 
executed by a young artist of the name of Ogle. It would be 
too much to say his works equalled Wilson's, of Aberdeen ; 
Brown's, of Saltburnby-the-Sea; Mudd's, of Manchester; or 
Piper's, of Ipswich, (whose prize specimens are perhaps the 
finest things yet produced,) but they are very mellow and happy 
for all that. 

" Ah ! look there," as we crossed the market place, "that's 
a four- years-old Scotch wedder, or I'm a Dutchman." 

" How on earth do you know ?" he said. 

"Know! observe the bloom on his back— that delicious 
dapple — the mulberry on his shoulders, and the deep tone of 
colour between his ribs —he has a full mouth for a crown. But- 
cher, turn up his head an' please you ? — and so he has, of 
course. Cut me both legs off, if you can spare them;" but 
what a flat I was not to secure the saddle too. Yorick said 
his was the best joint he ever ate, and I can answer for the other 
— and only Sd a lb. ; but it was the last of the Mohicans, for 
I tried since, at least both Banting and Jones did for me, but 
without success. What a wonderful little place Penrith is for 
chemists' shops ; there are four of them that would be no dis- 
grace to London, and that is something extraordinary for a 
small provincial town of 7,189 inhabitants. But then the 
neighbourhood is crowded with gentry and well-to-do people, 
so that accounts for the anomaly. The county balls, at which 
" the quality sport their diamonds" to the wonder of little folks, 
are held in the hotel we were in, and the County Court as well ; 
as the boy Jones was interested in a case that day, we went 
in. Didn't the judge polish them off fast— not with Dow- 
ling dispatch, certainly, for he is sui generis, and I'll back his 
Honour to utter more wit — not always of the nicest either— 
and more law, as well as do more solid justice, than any 
other man, or any brace of them, in thrice the time. 

Well, Yorick off with the mutton, and our carriage stop- 
ping the way at one p.m., we rattled off at score for Brougham 
Hall, where everything is in the best possible and most refined 
taste. The whole place is kept to periection. The iron-work 
would enchant an antiquarian, and South Kensington might 
envy the door handles, the hinges, bell-pulls, knockers (one of 
which is the couuterpait of that bird-like grinning demon at 
the main entrance of Durham Cathedral), the dogs and fire- 
irons, locks and bolts, which set me a thiulcing of Nuremberg, 
Florence, Venice, Genoa, and Milan. It is handsome, solidly 
handsome outside, and admirable in. The views from the win- 
dows are charming, and some of the timber is magnificent. 
The walnut-trees, for instance, equal those at Womersley, even 
those sacrificed by the hard winter of 1 8(30. These shewed no 
trace of injury whatever. The ancient and perfectly restored 
chapel, too, is quite a gem of its kind, and outside of it the 
purple stemm'd and thornless rose was in a blaze of bloom — 
and very early it was. The rooms were all most comfortable ; 
and in the library, of irregular form, were several interest- 

E 



28 

ing portraits, indicative and characteristic of the great 
original, their collector. Sterne was there, Elizabeth Cromwell, 
Sheridan, Burke, Rousseau, Dryden, Voltaire (a most capital 
picture). Fairfax, the Duke of Richmond, Humboldt, Francis I., 
and "though last not least in our esteem," Cromwell 
himself. But what I looked for most of all was Lord Broug- 
ham's mother— for such a child must perforce have had a 
great mother, as had Katharine Parr. And in the next apart- 
ment — a sort of ante-room — there the old lady sat in state. 
You might have spoken reverentially to her ; salute we did, 
thanking her for bearing such a son— the champion of the 
oppressed, matterless their colour or their clime, he who, thank 
God, still rivets the attention of the highest tribunal of the 
world for talent and for honour — enchains all hearers in the 
most erudite academies of science in this country or in France 
— charms by his writings, and fascinates by his tongue, alike 
gifted compeers, wittiest of women, or the most artless child. 
We saw over the whole house— every portion of it furnished 
with curious and consummate taste, his own study being 
perhaps the plainest, yet most interesting. Its walls were 
lined with portraits of contemporaries, chiefly French, and the 
place of honour was given, as well it might be, to Alexander 
Humboldt, in his room at Berlin, whose likeness was admirable, 
and to his daughter when a child, whose death caused such 
deep distress. 

The day had changed, and the cold was all the more searching, 
owing to the sudden revulsion. Notwithstanding my back to 
the horses, I was so perished that enjoyment was out of the 
question, and ever and anon the neglected warning came upper- 
most — 

*' Ne'er cast a clout, till May be out ;" 
rendered all the more impressive by the fact of having only sum- 
mer clothing packed up, and Banting's buffalo robe left behind 
into the bargain. However, as good luck would have it, there 
was neither rain nor dust, and the nags soon set us down at 
Lowther Castle. Dear me ! what a time it is since first I saw 
it, though 1829 is not so far back after all. Then it struck my un- 
accustomed eyes as a wonderfully grand residence, and now, 
although it does not look a pin the worse for wear, the exterior 
seems much too regular for a style in which irregularity is most 
pleasing, while the rooms appear naked and unfurnished 
from want of colour — in fact, in inferior taste to Brougham. 
Erected after the designs of Sir Robert Smirke upon the ruins 
of the old hall, destroyed by fire in 1726, accounts have been 
discovered showing bills to the amount of £380,000, so that 
taking into consideration material supplied, independent of 
payments down, the cost must have been the thick end of half 
a million, and that's a lump of money. William, the present 
Peer, during the whole of his career, whether in the Lower or 
the Upper House, has deserved his high reputation as a first- 
rate man of business. No one looking at him, or listening to 
his sententious remarks, could fail being convinced of his talent, 
and perhaps a better Postmaster-General we never had. I have 
that opinion from those who worked with and under him, and 
no better judges can be. But as a large lauded proprietor, as 
one understanding wealth, not for the advantages it brings 



29 

personally so much as the blessings It confers where properly 
employed, he Is conspicuous as a benefactor to bis neighbour- 
hood, and an honour to his class. Largely interested in various 
public works, such as docks and mines, in the West, he has 
done more to develope the trade and resources of his counties 
than any other man past or present. None have been more 
prominent in improving the public roads of the district, and as 
a landlord his example is, and has been, of infinite value. Des- 
pising, with the thorough contempt common-sense engenders, the 
old system prevalent about him of feasting tenantry with a 
week's gorge at Yule, and letting them dine with Duke Hum- 
phrey till Christmas came again, he makes it a matter of busi- 
ness to provide daily labour during the whole twelve months, 
so that no man is without work and wage. Thus he has con- 
siderably raised the position of his people, and rejoices in 
estates physically and socially the best managed in the neigh- 
bourhood, while as an agriculturist, practically grasping the 
difficulties of farming — once considered "as easy as driving a 
gig" — perhaps that's true, as it takes a clever fellow to do 
either well— he makes tilling and breeding worth his while. 
You have only to look at his cattle and stock generally, as well 
as the condition of his property, to see this at a glance. As a 
connoisseur of art, Lord Lowtber, before he became the Earl of 
Lonsdale, has long been known ; and anticipating a grateful 
posterity he has with all the attributes of his career at his feet, 
placed a life-sized marble statue of himself on the first landing 
of the principal staircase of the Castle, right in front of the en- 
trance. Itisan odd idea certainly, andsome might callit vanity, 
but I can't discern the difference between such a work and a 
picture one so often sees, or " when it was two guineas on ivory, 
and you took your chance pretty much how you came out," 
excepting that of cost. As an example of art portraiture, 
Stevens' statue is unexceptionable, and those who turn up 
their little snubby noses at a man spending much over him- 
self, including the horses, sheep, implements, and grain — 
blue books on this subject and that, not forgetting the frag- 
ment of art about the pedestal, but all fairly illustrative 
of character, and curl their thin lips in disdain, let us 
see what they, under circumstances similar, would have done. 
Something in worse taste, I'll warrant, and not worth a tithe 
of the value, let alone the outlay. His lordship has no gas- 
works like those at Brougham, and how in the world the place 
is thoroughly warmed I. can't conceive. This day it was like 
wandering amidst tombs, and very uncomfortable tombs too. 
The rooms are well proportioned, but there is sad coldness in 
the ceilings and the walls ; the pictures were excellent, par- 
ticularly the Dutch ones, but with the exception of a 
few — some glorious examples of Tenters — as good a Jan 
Steen as exists — two Lawrences — the late Lady Lonsdale and 
George IV. among others for instance — quite equal to Lady 
Grey, Young Lambton, the lovely Howards, and Lord Eldon — 
the choicest were all cabinet works. Wouvermans, Ostade, Breu- 
ghel (velvet), Gerard Dow, Vanderwerf and Vandervelde being 
amongst thom, and a clever little Murillo ; but it was so abomi- 
nably cold I could not enjoy them half enough. Fanatics talk 
about their devotions keeping them warm in a damp church ; 



30 

If that be true, the sooner some of us are devotees the more 
enjoyment we should have ; though as at present advised, I 
don't believe such nonsense as the mind being at command at 
all when the body is ill at ease. The gems in this collection 
are not alone confined to the painter's art, as the antique 
marbles are worth much more examination than our time or 
the atmosphere would permit. A finer series of Koman Em- 
perors I never saw anywhere, and the student in phrenology 
might, from their marked heads, read his lessons by the hour. 
There are also some rare fragments of important statues from 
the Stowe and Hertford galleries, several of which have been 
most shockingly repaired. Works like these should be placed 
in the best hands, or their mutilations remain unmeddled 
with. Topographically, certainly, but not with any reference 
to art, though some of the pictures are better than others, a 
very interesting gallery is in the course of formation, 
in which to assemble all the portraits of Westmoreland 
worthies, those of Hogarth of undying fame and Katharine Parr 
claiming our attention at once. Westmoreland may well feel 
proud of such a pair. The one as a painter of real life never 
equalled and rarely approached ; the other the great daughter 
of a great mother. The first Protestant Queen of England, who 
stood by and defended her faith with fearful risk, directly 
descended from the proud lineage of our Anglo-Saxon Kings, 
and the reddest Norman blood. The Protectress of Coverdale, 
the staunch friend of Ann Askern, the guide and counsellor of 
the studies of Lady Jane Grey, young Edward VT. and Elizabeth. 
But among "the Worthies" also were the two Whartons 
(Duke and Marquess) ; Dean Addison and Joseph ; Justice Wil- 
son ; Watson, Bishop of Llandaff; Waugh. of Carlisle ; and Sir 
George Fleming, of the same See ; Barrage, Archbishop of 
York ; Drs Burn, John Langhorn, and Shaw ; "Jockey" Bell ; 
George Clifford (Duke of Cumberland) ; Bernard Gilpin ; Ad- 
miral Pearson ; General Bowser and others. We walked 
upon the terrace afterwards, which is almost as celebrated 
as those at Duncombe Park, and on Hearing it observed 
some fine yews, finer even than those at Byrom or Lord 
Coventry's place near Malvern. At last we came to Pooley 
Bridge, and as I could stand it no longer, while the horses 
bated the resources of my portmanteau came in useful, though 
there was far too little really warm clothing provided. Ulls- 
water — which is nine miles by one, and therefore next to 
Windermere in size— begins here, and like the foot of almost 
every lake I know— at least any lake of pretension to size- 
it is tame in comparison to the head ; very good, no doubt, 
to those who live in a dismally flat country, but really 
nothing worth a second thought. At the little inn in furmer 
days I had an eaily experience of the district, and tasted lake 
trout for the first time there. Aye, and capital they were. 
They may talk of Loch Awe and Loch Leven fish as they like, 
but I'll back the Ullswater trout against all comers for flavour 
and condition in this or any other couutry. We soon arrived 
and halted at Lyulph's Tower, a shooting box built by the late 
Duke of Norfolk in Gowborrow Park. . Its name, like that of 
the lake, is referrable to Ulf or L'Ulf, the first Baron of Grey- 
stoke, of which property of the Howards the Park is a portion. 
The walk to Ara Force is but a short way, and of course we did it, 



31 

notwithstanding the drought had rendered it as poor as poor 
could be, and the cold only made matters worse. The beautiful 
herd of cream-coloured West Highlanders, the troops of nervous 
fallow deer, the sweetness of the little glen, the freshness of the 
Way, covering the thorns as with snow, and the charming 
scenery — for here Ullswater in fact assumes ascendency — were 
enough to warm us up into something like a sensation. But 
no ; 'twas no use trying, nothing but dinner could avail ; and 
Banting had ordered that some days ago for eight sharp. 
So into the carriage we bundled, as there were four miles 
further to travel, and it was late. However, sunless and 
wretched as it was, thence to our destination proved, how 
difficult soever it may be to make a distinction, where the 
pictures are so taking and so many, about the best thing we 
had done. In several portions of the way the Trossachs came 
so vividly to my recollection that it was almost impossible, but 
for the good road in place of the worst in Europe, to realize 
the fact of being elsewhere than in charming Perthshire. 

At length we drew up at Brownrigg's Hotel, in Patterdale, 
as the clock struck eight, so we had run it far too fine. 
The night being very raw, it was out of all question, 
reason, or common-sense to do without a fire — and we 
refused a down stairs room, after selecting another on the 
same floor with our sleeping apartments which adjoined 
it. Now then, Banting, let's know what they are going 
to give us, and his face (and mine too) was " quite a sight for 
to see" when the civilest and perhaps the best of all waiters 
remarked in the blandest manner, " Well, sir, yes, sir — 
there's trout, sir — you ordered it. Yes, sir ; and sir, a fine piece 
of beef, sir — ivould you like anything else, sir ?" Poor fellow, he 
appealed silently and imploringly to me, though all I could 
get out, being his guest, was— -postpone the hour to nine sharp ; 
allow the cook and ourselves time ; it strikes me we might 
enjoy the luxury of beef at home, perhaps — trout, of course, but 
it can't be in better hands. Oh ! mind order the puddings — 
"Patterdale puddings?" "Yes, sir." So here was another 
name, but very good they were, and so was the dinner, for 
the house is as well kept as any in the district ; as for 
wine, the sherry, the hock, and the '51 Margeaux were about 
as topping as any man could serve, I don't care whether Paris 
and Company, Plews, Griffiths, Fennell, Tod Heatley, Thompson 
and Garthorne, Frank Greenwell, or any other man. Jones was 
learned about wines — he'd been in the country d'ye see, and 
agreed with me that few stomachs could stand Port if once it had 
been seen made. By the way, we had someBucellas, that rejected 
and despised of all good stuff ; when it's old and pure to start 
with, there's nothing better, and so it should— so— it— should 
— for hock grapes transplanted to such a climate only require 
care in manipulation, which they too seldom get, and hence 
the deterioration. The wine was excellent, and "the boy" 
told us George Crott, in Lisbon, supplied it sparkling, so we 
ordered some. 

I find there are several methods of making these little pud- 
dings—no doubt each house-wife will have her own receipt, as 
in Scotland for haggis or in the Norih of Eugland for yule cake 
and mince meat. Besides the receipt for Windermere or Pat- 
terdale or Castle puddings, mentioned In an earlier paper, the 



32 

following are also noted in my own M.S. book: — Take four 
and-a-half ounces of flour, an equal quantity of ground rice, 
ten ounces of sugar, and half-a-dozen eggs. Beat the sugar 
and eggs well together, then add the flour and rice, a spoonful 
at a time, until all is consumed, beating all along and for three- 
quarters of an hour. Pour into cups, and before baking add 
(finely grated) the peel oi half a lemon and the quarter of the 
juice. The other slightly differs, but each is worth trying. 
This is it : — Three eggs in the shell, equal weights of powdered 
loaf sugar and flour, and half the quantity of fresh butter. 
First melt the butter to oil, and then beat it thoroughly with 
the eggs to a cream, gradually adding the sugar and flour with 
lemon juice and grated peel at discretion. Half-fill coffee cups, 
bake moderately rather more than half an hour, and serve hot 
with Madeira sauce. The night was excessively raw, but the 
fare and fire resuscitated every one of us, and the evening passed 
rapidly away, conversation with unflagging smoothness flitting 

" From grave to gay — from lively to severe." 
Both Banting and " the boy'' equally with myself delight in geogra- 
phy, and the study of the peopling of the West by the successive 
immigrations from the East, whence five big waves of population 
have rolled in, each by turn sweeping the mighty flood preced- 
ing it, further and still further on. The great Celtic inunda- 
tion is the first we can distinctly trace as propelled by the 
irresistible force of the succeeding deluges of the Roman, the 
Teutonic, and the Sclave hordes, until it arrived at length into 
the far western extremities of Europe. These Celts being 
divided into two great branches — or rather distinct bodies — 
followed one another. Both spoke languages of a common 
stock, but distinguished by dialectic divergence as great as 
exist between Greek and Latin, or G-erman and English, or 
Tuscan and Piedmontese. There are living languages to this 
day belonging to each of these branches. The first Gadlielic, 
or Gael, being represented by the Erse of Ireland, the 
Gaelic of Scotland (that in the west being by far the 
purest) and the Manx of the Isle of the Man ; the second, 
or Cymric, by the Welsh and the Armoricans of Biittany, still 
in well nigh exclusive use by a million and a half of Frenchmen. 
The Cymri, so it is said, issued from the Alpine region — the 
Gaels from the valleys of the Rhine and the Moselle, from 
which latter district it seems the earliest historic movements 
of the Celts took place. Three Celtic tribes burst over the 
Alps, They pillaged Rome, and after returning to Illyria for 
a while, broke in upon Greece and plundered the priceless 
treasures at Delphi. Settling for a time iu Thrace, but ever 
restless, marauding, and aggressive, then crossing the Bos- 
phorus, they took possession of the central region of Asia 
Jlinor, to which they gave the uame of Galatea, or the land of 
the Gael, where also they long retained their Celtic speech and 
the ethenical peculiarities of their Celtic blood. There is no 
base on which to build conjecture as to the precise period or 
place or occasion when, where, or whence the two great divi- 
sions of the Celts took place. The most numerous people of 
Germany were the Gadlielic branch, and it may be inferred, 
from the fact of finding no names of the Cymric, Slavonic, or 
Teutonic stock, which have undergone phonetic change in 
accordance with the genius of the Gaelic language, that the 



33 

Gaels found Germany unoccupied. Next came the Cyrari, and 
they came as conquerors, though numerically much inferiorto the 
Gaels. Lastly, the Germans from the North, in fewer numbers still, 
but still as conquerors, and they Germanised many Gadhelic 
names which previously had been Cymrycised. In the ancient 
parochial documents relating to several parishes north of the 
Forth, the gradual increase of the Teutonic element forms an in- 
teresting illustration of this early transitional period of history. 
In the Taxates of the 12th century, only 2^ per cent, are Teu- 
tonic names, while in the Charterlaries, from the 12th to the 
14th, the proportion rises to 4 per cent., and in the tax-rolls 
of 1564 to nearly 25. Even so late as the reign of Henry 
the Second, Hereford was considered to be in Wales — at least so 
says the Kevd. Isaac Taylor in his Words and Places, p. 255, 
though he is contradicted by an able reviewer in the July 
number (231, p. 16) of the Quarterly — and it was not 
until Henry the Eighth's time that Monmouthshire became 
English. In Devon, the Cymric speech lingered till Elizabeth, 
and in Cornwall (where the dialect is very eccentric to this day) 
it was the only medium of conversation in her father's time. 
In the reign of Queen Anne, distinguished, as Mr Kirwan tells 
us, by an extraordinary burst of intellectual vigour, and great 
- progress in the culinary art, it was confined to five or six villages 
in the western portion of that beautiful county, and it has 
only become extinct within the memory of living man, while 
the Celtic race still survive the absorption of their mother 
tongue with little admixture of the Teutonic strain. 

In Wales one observes the change of language accompanied 
by a very partial infusion of Saxon blood, and even in Mercia 
and Wessex the bulk of the people is of the pure Celtic strain. 
In Glamorgan, Flint, Denbigh, and part of Montgomery, Eng- 
lish has almost entirely supplanted the native language, those 
clinging to it, except in the rarest instances, understanding if 
not speaking ours : in the other border counties, also, it is 
rapidly dying out, very much as one observes it even in the 
most tenacious and remote parts of Ireland and Scotland, as 
applied to Erse and Gaelic. 

The Saxon keels cannot have transported any numerous popu- 
lation, and the ceorls or churls were no doubt the pure-blooded 
descendants of the Celts of Britain. The Celtic element in the 
population was large, and long remained unabsorbed by the 
Saxon ; and it is worthy of remark that over the whole land 
almost all the river and shire names contain Celtic roots, as do 
likewise a fair sprinkling of those of hills, valleys, and fortresses. 
Comparative analyses are the readiest reckoners, and Banting 
seems to have a perfect system of them at command. He fur- 
nished me with this, which shews at a glance the proportion 
of Saxon, Danish, and Celtic names of hills, hamlets, woods, 
villages, &c, in the various places detailed : — 



Percentage of names 
from the 



Celtic 2 

Anglo-Saxon 90 

Norse 8 







a 


a 


3 




3 
CO 


a 

o 

> 
ft 


St 

a 

o 

O 


o 

s 

a 
o 


o 

M 


r3 

a 


8 . 


. 32 . 


. 80 . 


. 76 . 


. 59 . 


. 80 


91 . 


. 65 . 


. 20 . 


. 24 . 


. 20 . 


. 19 


1 . 


. 3 . 


. . 


. . 


. 21 . 


. 1 



34 

By far the larger number of Celtic names in England are dis- 
tinctly of the Cymric type. These Cymri, by some considered 
to be the Picts, held the Lowlands of Scotland up to the Perth- 
shire Hills, until the Scots crossed over from Ireland (then 
called Scotia, and North Britain Nova Scotia) to Argyle, and 
extended their dominions over the whole of the North-west of 
the kingdom, encroaching largsly on the Cymri. In the 12th 
century the Clyde and Forth were the southern boundaries of 
what was called Scotland ; and now when treaties are being 
torn by the mere fact of aggressive war, and the landmarks of 
Europe wrenched out of their old places, it is somewhat in- 
teresting to review the former condition of our own neighbour- 
hood, so comparing the past with the present. 

May 22nd.— Up by times. The fragrant freshness of the day 
realised to the full Milton's apothegm — 

Sweet is the breath of morn ; her rising sweet, 
With charm of earliest birds ; 
and the loveliness of the situation in which Banting had pitched 
our comfortable tent could not possibly have been seen to more 
advantage. Browrigg's Hotel is five minutes' walk to the head 
of the lake. Bonass' house is not only a much larger building, 
but at the very water's edge a mile off. There seems a good 
deal of rivalry between the establishments, both of which are 
considered good ; though from experience I can only form an 
opinion of the management and purveyance of that in which 
we were, and which is excellent in all respects. It struck me 
as, without any comparison, much the more beautifully placed 
of the two. The perfection of the day went far no doubt in 
exciting our elastic feelings. " The boy" and I strolled out. 
long before our host had even commenced his elaborate toilet, 
much less finished that apparently tedious operation, and as he 
had ordered breakfast the night before, the brace of us had a 
pleasant constitutional ramble. The contrast between this day 
and yesterday materially assisted the brightness of everything 
around us, and the reflection is not a little humiliating that one 
so soon forgets blessings just experienced. The weather had been 
exceptionally delicious for any season both before and since 
Tuesday, for May in the Lake district nothing had been known 
like it ; yet the moment it varied on Saturday nothing cculd 
be more miserable than our feelings, which were now as happily 
reversed when it turned again. The garden attached to the 
Hotel presented natural capabilities a fortune could not trans- 
plant or establish, and the peeps we obtained on all sides were 
perfect. At one o'clock we turned out for a walk until 7 30, 
and by the direction of the invaluable waiter, who kindly sup- 
plied a capital field glass, we took the path to Blowick, past 
the slate quarry. It was exactly one of those rare days in which 
it was preterable to moon about and loll, even on high ground, 
inhaling the soft breath of moor air, while basking in the 
glowing warmth, rather than travel. A rare day, was it not ? 
and then the views from a' top of Blowick ! Seated among the 
rocks and junipers, the Lake far away below, its waters and the 
cloudless sky of deep pure blue, no dolce far nicntc could be more 
composing. The pretty little church, in the churchyard of which is 
railed round a curiously knarled and hollow ancieutyew centuries 



35 

of age, Patterd ale Hall, embedded in ornamental timber, a glen 
opening up, and studded with a mining village, the other hotel 
and our own, Gowborrow Park, a long reach of all the best part 
of Ullswater, Kirkstone Pass, where an eagle was seen so late 
as 1850, a perfect amphitheatre of rugged mountains, and un- 
dulating ground richly wooded and fat with pastures, such was 
the scene about us, unequalled to my mind without any com- 
parison in the district. The parsley fern, flourishing perfectly 
unshaded, abounded ; that curious little plant the butterburr was 
also plentiful, and many others we gathered and brought home. 
In one of the fir plantations we observed the young cones— six 
inches long at least — clustered in masses together, and of a 
colour so superb they could be distinguished at a considerable 
distance in the bright sunlight. Oddly enough it was one of 
the brilliant tints introduced this year as the Garibaldi ombre, 
and is the combination of amythest and ruby. Banting was 
very learned about the monks of old who belonged to F urness 
Abbey, worked minerals here, and no doubt enjoyed the trout ; 
and, if they had time for anything in the way of comfort, the 
JNorthmen must have revelled in the fastnesses and retreats of 
this one of their most favourite nooks. For three whole centu- 
ries, from the 8th to the 11th, these hardy vagabonds pursued 
their restless harry, and became an established terror to western 
Europe, sacking, burning, ravishing, and murdering, whither- 
soever they went. They piloted their barks up the shoally 
and the shallow Elbe, the Scheldt, the Rhine, the Neckar, and 
the Moselle. They ravaged the sweet valleys of the Somme, 
the Soane, the Marne, the Loire, and the Garonne. They 
besieged Paris, Amiens, Tours, Troyes, Chalons, Poictiers, 
Bordeaux, Toulouse, and London repeatedly. One of the big 
lions guarding the Arsenal at Venice, and once adorning Athens, 
is deeply grooved and scored with Norse Runes, recording the 
capture of the Piraeus by Harald Hardrada, or flaardraade, 
the doughty Norwegian king, who, with Toste, in 1066 fell at 
Stamford Bridge, after flaunting his celebrated banner — Landode 
(the land ravager) — in his expeditions to the East against the 
Saracens, and real or fictitious enemies of Christianity, his zeal 
impelled him to worry and hunt down. They established 
themselves as conquerors or colonists over fully the half of 
England, in the Hebrides, and Western coasts of Scotland, in 
Greenland, Iceland, the Isle of Man, and the north of France. 
They did more, they founded kingdoms in this country, and in 
Ireland, in France, Naples, and in Sicily, while a Norse dynasty 
ruled Russia for 700 years, and for centuries the Varangian 
guard upheld the throne of the Byzantine Emperors. There 
were principal Danish stations at Deptford, Woolwich, and 
Greenwich. The fens which bordered the Witham, the Welland, 
and the Nen, was the southern boundary of these settlers. The 
Danelag, or district, was divided by agreement between Alfred 
and Gudrum from the Saxon by a line passing along the 
sea and the Ouse, and then following to the north-east of 
Watlinga or Watling-street. Noith of the Tweed they entirely 
disappear, except in the north-west, and there are very few 
Norse names in Durham and Northumberland ; indeed only 23 
and 22 respectively, as against 142 in Cumberland, 158 in 
Westmoreland, 292 in Lincolnshire, and 405 in Yorkshire, ouc 



36 

of the 1,500 in all England. There were Danish fortresses at 
Leicester, Derby, Stamford, Nottingham, Lincoln and York, 
and in the same way that the Danish names in England are 
seen to radiate from the Wash, so the Norwegian immigration 
seems to have proceeded from Morecornbe Bay and that portion 
of the coast facing the Isle of Man. Cumberland and West- 
moreland contain far more Norwegian than Danish names, and 
the Lake District was well nigh exclusively peopled by the 
former people, so that while their suffixes— gill — garth — thwaite 
—force — fell— dale— tarn— beck — are abundant, as well as 
" by," meaning a town or village, and purely Danish, and 
hence a paradox, the Danish forms of thorpe— toft — liaugh 
— with— nses — ey — are almost unknown, and the Anglo- 
Saxon test-words — ham— ford— worth— and ton are com- 
paratively rare. More than 150 distinct personal names of 
the Icelandic type are preserved in the local topography of 
the Lake district, and the commonest names in Iceland are 
Kettle, Halle, Ormur, Gils ; whence spring Kettlewell, Hall- 
thwaite, Ormethwaite, Gilstone, and Gilsland. By far the most 
prevalent Christian names there are Olafur, borne by 992 per- 
sons, Einer by 878, and Bjarni by 869 ; which are reproduced 
in Ulverstone, Eunerdale, and Barneyhouse. Brani or Kennie 
is found in Ransdale, Eennerdale, Ransbarrow, and Wrenside ; 
Loki in Lockthwaite and Lockholm ; Buthar in Buttermere, 
Butterhill, and Buttergill ; and Skogul in Skeggleswater. So 
much for the local Icelandic derivations. In other parts, 
Grimsby, Burn thwaite, Harrowby, Thoresby, Haccoxby, and 
Guttersby are traced up to Grim, Biorn, Harold, Thor, Haco, 
and Gudor. The Norsemen called the Hebrides the Siidreyjar, 
or the Southern Islands, and the two Sees of the Sudreyjar 
(founded in 838) and Man were united in the 11th century, and 
made dependent on the Archbishop of Trondhjera, in Norway, 
by whose hand, and that of his successors till 1334, the prelates 
of that See, which "is better than nothing," as Sidney Smith 
said, were consecrated. In 13S0, the Bishopric of Man was 
separated, but all subsequent appointments have been made 
under the joint title of Sodor and Man, so long under the care 
of a Presbyterian Church. All interested in these northern 
people — and despite their insensate obstinacy, who is not in 
the Danes now, or who that has visited their country in the 
Norwegians, too — should read Worsaae's "Account" of them, as 
well as Ferguson's, and Lord Ellesmere's Guide to Northern 
Archseology, at whose and his brother's (the late Duke of 
Sutherland) suggestion the first author visited this country. 
The "Vikings, pronounced Veekings, so called from the Ice- 
landic Vik, a creek or bay of the sea, or the Danish Vig, 
battle or slaughter, were terrible fellows, and played the 
most conspicuous part in the Danish conquest ; but sea rovers 
and pirates though they were, I now never think of them 
without delight after »,hat little Prussian business, which, by 
the way, suggested the verse in Mr Speciall's cheery Shake- 
spearian song at our Local Celebration dinner on the 12th of 
May last, which runs thus — 

" The health of the Prince and his lovely bride, 
Who to English fortunes her. lot has tied ; 
Toast her old home — ' the Danish land ;' 
Drink to the fleet, with Vikings mann'd, 
That sent the base Germans to Heligoland. 



at 

Vive le, Vive le, Vive le Vin, 
Vive le, Vive le, Vive le Chant, 
Vive le, Vive le, Vive le Vin, 

et Vive la Compagnie.''* 

Tn an ancient Scandinavian Biblical paraphrase Goliath is 
called a Viking. I much mistake the signs of the times if 
Germany will not 'ere long discover that wickedness like hers 
never yet triumphed over public opinion. She has had her 
little foray and her cruel wrong, but another degradation is at 
hand. God grant it soon, for Jutland can only look to Heaven 
for retributiou, though " curses like chickens return to roost," 
while there is an " inexorable logic of facts," an inevitable 
corollary therefrom, and the undying justice of cause and effect. 
Both Austria and Prussia still groan under their chastisement 
by the first Napoleon, whose violence they have eclipsed with- 
out his brilliancy. May they from his example soon realise 
that acts of injustice, such as theirs upon the weak and brave, 
may cause a severe retaliation from the strong, and that the 
wrongs of the pettiest state may lead to a conflagration in 
Europe, in which they will be the first to suffer the overdue 
penalty of illegitimate aggression. 

Nothing seemed so strange to me as the almost total absence 
of visitors. To be sure, they said "the season" had not com- 
menced, as if that was any excuse for not taking advantage of 
such weather. Well, we are very much creatures of habit, and 
even yet we find some methodical folks who adopt the detest- 
able system of "dressing the grate," mindful only of a fixed 
date, and regardless of all comfort if the weather be change- 
able or unseasonable, as it often is. AtBrownrigg's there were 
only two parties — our own and another, but it was large— Man- 
chester people come to spend the Sunday, and very happy they 
all looked, especially a young couple, evidently on the eve of 
marriage. In the afternoon, they filled a special coach inside 
and out, so we were left alone. No season can come wrong 
among the lakes. Both Yorick and Banting were at Keswick 
last winter. They skated on Derwentwater, and the ice was 
like glass— a great mirror laid flat amidst the frosted scenery — 
yet nobody goes then. It is the same, in May ; if possible, 
more brilliant still, owing to the color and the hope of Spring. 
Nor yet in Autumn ! Is it not strange ? I don't know any 
tour which can be done more cheaply and better for the money 
than that of the Euglish lakes. This little jaunt of ours was 
not an example of my meaning, mind, because, being out of 
the. season, and no coaches on the road, we had invariably to 
post whenever hiring was necessary, whilst our living was 
luxurious ; but if you content yourselves with coffee-room fare, 
which is unusually good, and avoid private apartments, which 
are of course expensive, the thing may be done comfortably and 
well for 7s 3d a-day ! 'Tis surprising how they do it, but 
they do. Now, I asked for this information at the George, 
and Miss Beethom told me that 2s for breakfast, Is 9d for 
meat tea, 2s for bed, and Is 6d for service, was their regular 
tariff, and the usual price thereabouts. Beer and wine 
naturally are extra, but the two meals mentioned are so sub- 

* Appendix. 



38 

stmtial, so nicely served, and with such variety, that no man, 
not even a schoolboy, need have more. Why on the 26th and 
7th of this month Mr and Mrs Bowman, of Gainford, had a 
wonderful trip with 86 of their pupils at a cost of a crown a 
he id ! Such an effort could only be accomplished by energy 
and youth. To Clifton by rail — thence they walked to Pooley 
Bridge — thence by boats to Lyulph's Tower, Gowborrow Park, 
and Ara Force, and so on to Patterdale, where they had one of 
these meat teas, after which the very walk we took was accom- 
plished. How Brownrigg put them all up is only accounted 
tor by a mutual and pleasantly natural desire for accommoda- 
tion ; it is astonishing what any of us can and will do if we like. 
However, there they all slept, and rose with the lark as fresh as 
paint, for young stomachs know no fatigue, so that by six 
o'clock, after breakfast, the lot started for Helvellyn. The 
young : uns tailed off at quarter distance, and no wonder, for 
even pluck gives in to lack of thew; but the big lads, with their 
master and the guide, in all thirty, passing over Squirrel Edge, 
completed their task, and were enchanted with the view of 
Windermere, Grassmere, and Ullswater from the summit of 
Catchedecam, the utmost peak of the mountain it is safe to at- 
tempt. Returning by coaches and 'bus to Pooley, where a cold 
collation awaited their arrival, the whole party then retook the 
train at Clifton and reached home at six that evening. There's 
expedition and economy for you. The coach-fares are very reason- 
able, too, and when the railway is opened that item of cost will be 
reduced, but the whole tour is so much within a ring fence that a 
fortnight will suffice for leisure in thewhole ofit, notwithstanding 
a month or two might be most enjoyably occupied daily. No 
doubt, roaming far away from home excites its own peculiar 
zest, which no one more than myself appreciates ; but the 
longer I live, and the more I see, the fact is forced uppermost 
that we really, as a nation, see too little of what is well worth 
attention in our own country. " Those nearest io church are 
last in," is true all the whole world over, and the idea of the 
ability to visit home scenes at any time often excuses postpone- 
ment ; but in our distant wanderings we certainly are too 
prone to ignore, or rather perhaps to underrate the charms 
of the lake and coast scenery, and the sylvan loveliness of Great 
Britain and Ireland, as well as the endless variety our rivers 
afford. We are too apt to strain after the attainment of 
distance rather than the scrutiny of objects, which, to be seen 
well, should be examined, pondered over, and reflected upon. 

The people of the hotel seemed to understand us much bet- 
ter to-day than when they thought the "beautiful piece of 
beef" would suit our host's fastidious palate, and really nothing 
could be nicer than the delicate fare served. Early in the 
morning " the boy" and I inspected the fresh-caught trout. 
Mr Brownrigg has an extensive take of fishing, and is able to 
supply his customers on the shortest notice. None of the 
weights are great in any of these lakes, nothing approaching 
those in the Scotch or the Italian, where I have known trout 
30, and even up to 451b. ; but for flavour, those of Ullswater 
surpass any I ever tasted. They are very handsome and well 
grown, and the spots are larger, more distinct, and separate 
than any other breed. 



39 

What a night it was ! just such as would follow such a day, 
and not a veil of fog or vapour. 

" But look ! the moon in silver mantle clad, 
Walks o'er the dew of yon high eastern hill." 

At full, she hung suspended in mid-air, no breath of wind 
disturbing the calm of all around. We could not shut out 
scenery we enjoyed so much from both the windows, which 
framed each view as a picture, so to speak, but discussed the 
monks again, and the Margeaux too. Banting is the quaintest 
dog for scraps of information, as well as real, solid, stiff re- 
search. We laughed again and again — I believe " the boy" 
almost cried at some of the items — when, with the utmost 
solemnity, our host illustrated the subject with Jacques Tas- 
quin's little bill for some decorations he had carried out for a 
monastery in Flanders, as he said, " at a remote period of 
history — but it is a perfectly authentic document.'' The 
amount was 78 florins 10 sous, and the particulars ran thus : — 

fl. s. 
1.— Correcting and varnishing the Ten Commandments .. 5 12 
2. — Embellished Pontius Pilate, and put a new ribbon on 

his hat 3 6 

3. — Put a new tail to St. Peter's cock, and mended his 

crest 2 3 

4. — Refixed the good thief to the cross, and gave him a new 

finger 17 

5. — Refeathered and gilt the left wing of the angel Gabriel 14 18 
6. — Washed the servant maid of the High Priest Calphas 

and put colour on her cheeks . . . . . . ..514 

7. — Renewed the sky, added two stars, gilt the sun, and 

cleaned the moon . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 14 

8. — Revived the flames of Purgatory, and restored some 

souls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..66 

9. — Revived the fire of hell, put a new tail on Lucifer, 

mended his left claw, and did several things for the 

damned 4 10 

10.— Put a new border to Herod's robe, gave him two teeth 

and readjusted his wig . . . . 2 2 

11. — Put a piece on Haman's leather breeches, and put two 

buttons on his waistcoat . . . . . . . . ..23 

12. — Put new gaiters on Tobias's son, travelling with the 

Angel Gabriel ; and a new belt to his travelling bag 2 5 
13. — Cleaned the ears of Balaam's ass, and shod him .. 3 7 

14. — Put ear-rings on Sarah . 2 

15. — Put a new stone in David's sling, enlarged the head of 

Goliath, and bent back his legs 3 1 

16. — Put new teeth in the jaw-bone of the ass of Sampson 1 5 
17. — Pitched Noah's ark, and gave him a new pair of sleeves 6 
18. — Put a piece on the shirt of the prodigal son, washed the 

pigs, and put water in their troughs 3 4 

19. — Put a handle to the Samaritan's cruse 15 



Total 78 10 

We got on talking, comparing the merits of various musicians, 
and seemed finally agreed that Felix Mendelssohn presented the 
rarest combination of talent yet produced, and stood alone in 
his art, as Shakespeare in his own. In him you have the mas- 
siveness of Handel, the tenderness of Mozart, the sweetness of 
Purcell and of Arne, the brilliancy of Rossini, the rythme- 
tical melody of Meyerbeer, Haydn, and Auber ; in fact, the 
influence of all schools with poetry, descriptive power, and 
variety infinite. His Elijah* led us on to the Priest of Baal— 

* Appendix. 



40. 

their worship and their wilfulness. Thus pleasantly did our last 
evening float away. Banting read aloud "Wordsworth's " Peter 
Bell," which he and most consider the happiest effort of this 
fascinating poet, though T'm all for his ode on " Westminster 
Bridge," but when he came to — 

" And he had trudged through Yorkshire dales, 
Among the rocks and winding scars, 

"Where deep and low the hamlets lie 

Beneath their little patch of sky 
And little lot ef stars"— 
T had almost to give in. 

What I noticed in this hotel was that brown bread was not 
to be had, and even the white was inferior. Now that's odd, 
is it not ? There cannot surely be any difficulty about the mat- 
ter, but she is not the first good cook I have known who over- 
looks the importance of bread making, which only requires 
such ordinary ability that failure is like bad spelling and a 
positive disgrace while good is no credit. She gave us some 
excllent macaroni au gratin, which, however, is not half so good 
as Mrs Howcroft's receipt for doing it white— nay, nor a twen- 
tieth part as good. The clever body gave it to me the other 
day at Darlington, where she lives, and I am glad to find " goes 
out." Being placed unreservedly at my disposal publication of 
the secret is no breach of good faith, so here it is : — Stew well 
until thoroughly tender 4 ounces of macaroni in weak stock, 
add one ounce of grated cheese, a tea spoonful of dry mustard, 
an idea of pepper and salt, a dessert spoonful of flour, and a 
little good cream ; then serve in a hot water dish if you have 
one. Perhaps she has some wondrous subtle mode in the 
manipulation, or perhaps it is just as easy to do well as making 
melted butter, in which more cooks fail than otherwise ; but 
no one ever made better macaroni in my experience, and very 
few so good, so that I well may thank her for her kind- 
ness in telling me so simple a method of dressing one of the 
most nutritious and palatable dishes that comes to table at 
any time of day or night. 

May 23rd. 

Then let the world jog along as it will, 
We'll be free and easy still ; 
Free and easy, 
Free and easy, 
"We'll be free and easy still. 
So runs the melodious chorus of a jolly old song, equalling 
in sweetness, though it is impossible to surpass, those one heats 
in Huddersfield and that ilk from Yorkshire throats. "We sang 
it— aye, we sang it cheerily— on the 29th ult. (July) at the 
parting dinner to an honoured guest' — one of that rare sort 
tritely and justly designated by an accomplished speaker, who 
can think on his legs — an advantage, like good reading, by far 
too little cultivated — as ' ' a sage amongst men — a lad with bairns 
— very Cupid with theladies ;" and this reminds me that our plea- 
sant trip approached its end. "The boy" and I awaited the 
arrival of the take of trout, and selected enough for Yorick 
and for home. The hotel master charged Is a pound, which 

* Appendix. 



41 

struck me as a groat too much, and no less than 103 Cd per 
tambourine. Why that's the price for char ! Well, he said, 
they are just as good ; see how pink they are. Oh ! yes, the 
colour's all right, no doubt ; and they are oftener sold for char 
than char, if men are not wide awake ; but the price is absurd. 
So we left them. Byseven, Joneshad breakfasted and was off. We 
postponed our meal till eleven, and found the change to Bigg's, 
at Windermere, very much for the worse— but I must, not anti- 
cipate. By the way, both my friends say that " the boy," in- 
stead of being " above the middle height, yet not tall," is good 
six feet, though he don't look it ; so thick and mouldy, well- 
proportioned all over, like a clever cob he is, and very bad to 
match. About the same time he left we ensconced ourselves in 
a light wagonette behind as fast a pair of posters as one 
need wish to see. Tight 'uns they were for the job, as our route 
lay right up Kirkstone pass, at the summit of which there is a 
stone 

"whose church-like frame 

Gives to the savage pass its name." 

The road they say is the highest in England, and upon its 
crest is the highest inhabited house. It's very cold up here in 
winter, Sir, the poor woman said, aye and starving enough 
this very morning. Bight glad we were of the buffalo robe 
of silver wolf, which had been sent after us with kind forethought 
from the George ; it was fit for the Emperor of all the Bussias, or 
even that Magician, who can conjure millions out of discredit, 
the financial Chase. It drizzled too, so out came Banting's 
wonderful umbrella, and my poor old Sarie Gamp, which 
horrified him ; but she's quite good enough for me, and better 
than his jemmy affair, as no one falls in love with her. Looking 
back ever and anon, and looking forward now, the scene from 
that vast height was great. The mountains and the little hills 
lay tossed about in wild confusion, and one could see the sea, 
they said, into Scotland, too, and over islet-dotted Winder- 
mete. We had sunshine enough yesterday for many a day, 
and the sullenness of all around after it had got out fair was 
grand. What a spot for the rites of Baal this must have been, 
and was. Why the remnants of the ordeal by fire have scarcely 
died out yet in that most superstitious of Counties, in which a 
man dare at his peril cry " Cuckoo" in Borrowdale. During this 
drive I was struck with the children clustering about the 
carriage, or running in the hope of coppers, just as they used 
to do in Ireland before the famine, which I witnessed. What 
a sight of woe and want was that, indeed ! The men and 
women wan and wasted, stiicken down and thudded, crawling 
shadows of their former selves — the children with their pro- 
truding, sightless eyes, swollen bellies, withered haunches, and 
limbs no thicker than their bones. The whole country looked 
c irsed, Godforgotten, lost and dreary even in the mocking 
s inshine in its loveliest parts I had known in happier days. 
Death, stalking as he did, mowing down his thousands in a 
week, was in truth a blessing, when life was utter desolation. 

At length the sun dissipated the vapour, and in descending 
Troutbeck, the ever-changing lovely valley enchanted us by its 
exquisite variety. Such ferns there were, and miles of under- 
wood of brilliant broom, like Californian gold amongst the 



42 

freshest green about. Hence it was that Hogarth sprang, or 
rather here and at Kirby Thore his people lived, though he 
himself was born in London. As an engraver, a painter, a 
humorist of the highest order, and the most genial friend, his 
fame will be familiar as household words, so long as a relish 
for English art exists. The named is derived from hogardr— an 
enclosure for hay — and the old family were well-to-do 'states- 
men. The graceful lines Garrick wrote, and had engraved 
upon the tomb at Chiswick, bespeak at once the author and 
the artist : — 

Farewell, great painter of mankind, 
Who reach'd the noblest point of wit : 
Whose pictured morals charm the mind, 
And through the eye correct the heart. 
If genius fire thee, reader, stay ; 
If nature touch thee, drop a tear ; 
If neither move thee, turn away, 
For Hogarth's honoured dust lies here. 
The sun made it delightfully hot as we rattled along this happy 
valley; and at last we came to the border of the lake, which 
Banting dilated upon as having originally been spelt Winander- 
mere, and combated the received derivation of Gwyn- 
dur-mere — meaning clear water — as the Celts invariably 
put their qualifying word last. Which was correct made little 
difference in its beauty— though mind it is inferior to Fatter- 
dale — but our conversation soon followed a groove into which 
mine host slid as it were by nature and inclination. Butter- 
mere might be, he said, Booth-tor-mere, the lake of the village 
on the hill as Wordsworth has it ; yet his opinion inclined to 
that of Ferguson, who considers that the old Norse hero, 
Buthar Lipr, from whom Butter lip Haw takes its name, has 
something to do with it. Brothers-water we passed on the 
road, is Irom Broad dur or Broad water— and it is a tarn just 
about square. The distinctive difference between a tarn, the 
Scandinavian spelling of which is tjorn or tjarn, and a lake is 
that it has no visible inlet or supply, being simply the result of 
day water, natural drainage, and the weeping from rocks — 
hence its name, the Danish word taar being almost our own 
tear. Many of these lake-names have personal associations, 
and many are purely descriptive. Crummock Water, for in- 
stance, originally Crumbeck, is compounded of beck aud 
Krumr, a proper name. In old Norse the final r after a con- 
sonant 'was not pronounced, and merely signified the nomina- 
tive case. Again, Ambleside, originally Hamelside (where, 
by-the-bye, Scott has erected one of his best churches), in like 
manner is the habitation of Hamel. Grassmoor, Grasmere, and 
Grisedale are referable to swine ; Gris being the old Saxon for 
wild pig, which haunted these places. Old man from Alt man, 
or high mountain. Bassenthwaite from Bassing and thwaite, 
the habitation of this family, or rather the descendants of Bass, 
the Saxon patronymic ing being the same as Mac or O', meaning 
sons or issue. Derwent water from the Celtic Dur (clear), and 
guyn (water). Some will have it that the river Derwent is the 
winding water, but there are many of that name, few of which 
are particularly tortuous, though all are clear. Penrith sig- 
nifies the hill of the ford, though it is usually given as red 
hill, which Banting declares to be incorrect. Keswick, for- 



43 

merly Keldswicke, means the place of the springs by the 
water; and, remembering Home Tooke's remark, "Letters, 
like soldiers, are apt to drop off on a long march," the original 
orthography has been well preserved. Patterdale, with its well 
dedicated to St. Patrick, has reference to him. Then as to the 
names of mountaius. The King of Saxony, a learned authority 
on these subjects, derives Blencathra from blein (shiny), and 
catbara (rugged), and it answers that description, the mica in 
its formation being brilliant in its early stages of degradation. 
Mell fell is from the proper name Mioll (meaning fresh snow), 
and is sometimes spelt Maol lell ; the Norwegian Mel Fjeld 
and the Icelandic Mseli Fell corresponding, the meol, a wind- 
mill, having nothing to do with it, though the usually accepted 
base. Scratch Meal Scar is undoubtedly from Skratti, a demon, 
hence our " old Scratch ;" and mella is ancient Norse for an 
evil spirit closely related to Mioll, in fact his twin brother. 
The theory of deriving names of places from two or more dis- 
tinct languages is now common, but dangerous on the face of 
it. An exception in Dunmail liaise, however, presents itself, 
the former, being unmistakeably British, should have had 
cairn after instead of Raise, which is pure Scandinavian, 
meaning the same thing so far as the pile of stones goes, though 
the raise was always to indicate a grave beneath, and the 
cairn oftener a landmark or memorial— witness that to the 
Prince Consort at Balmoral as the latest instance. And so on, 
ad infinitum. For Christian names the Yankees exceed all 
nations in eccentricities and ugliness. I have known families 
distinguished by letters of the alphabet, the K Smiths, for in- 
stance, being thus picked out of the herd from the A's, B's, 
&c. There is a family in Michigan whose sons were named 
One Stickney, Two Stickney, Three Stickney, and whose daugh- 
ters were called First Stickney, Second Stickney, and so on 
Three elder children of a family in Vermont were christened 
Joseph, And, Another; and it is supposed that, should they 
have any more, they might have named them Also, Moreover, 
Nevertheless, and Notwithstanding. Another family actually 
named their child Finis, supposing that it was their last ; but 
they afterwards happened to have a daughter and two sons, 
whom they called Addenda, Appendix, and Supplement. 
Another parent set out to perpetuate the twelve apostles, and 
named the fifth child Acts. A man in Pennsylvania called his 
second son James Also, and the third William likewise. 
Following out this favourite study of Banting, I have 
long taken an interest in names, and once made a list from 
observation of odd instances, those in Devon being by far 
the quaintest. It is curious to observe there are above a quarter 
of a million of persons in England and Wales bearing the cos- 
mopolitan surname of Smith, and above 4f,000 persons in 
Scotland. If you meet 73 persons in England, or even 68 in 
Scotland, you may expect to find a Smith among them. Next 
to Smith there comes in each country a purely local name — 
Jones in England and Wales, Macdonald in Scotland ; in every 
73 persons in Scotland there is a Macdonald. The next most 
common names in England are : — Williams, Taylor, Davies, and 
Brown ; in Scotland, Brown occupies a very high numerical 
position, but several purely Scottish names also stand high upon 



44 

the list— Robertson, Stewart, Campbell, Anderson. There is a 
much greater clan predominance of surnames in Scotland than 
in England. There are in both countries many surnames de- 
rived from occupation, locality, or personal qualities ; while in 
England in the 50 most common surnames only 27, in Scotland 
37 — the great majority — are real patronymics and truly sire- 
names, either in their pure unaltered state, as Grant, Came- 
ron, Ac, or altered so as to express the descent, as in Robert- 
son and Morrison, or with the Gaelic Mac. A recent examina- 
tion of the birth-register of Scotland for a year showed 104,018 
births and only 6,823 separate surnames ; so that there are 
more than 15 persons, upon an average, to a surname, or only 
6 5 surnames to 100 persons. In England, a similar examina- 
tion by the Registrar-General showed only 8 - 4 persons to a sur- 
name, or 12 surnames to 100 persons. The proportion of 
persons attached to each surname would have been still larger 
in Scotland, and more than double that of England, but for the 
immense immigration from Ireland in the last quarter of a 
century. In the Scottish registers the 50 most common sur- 
names embrace nearly 30 per cent, of all the names on the re- 
gister ; in England only about 18 per cent. Of the 50 most 
common surnames in Scotland, 32 either entirely or in the form 
in which they occur in Scotland may be reckoned as having 
originated in that country, and a3 being peculiar to it — a very 
large proportion considering all circumstances. The remainder 
are common also to England. The sobriquets perpetuated as 
surnames from a supposed likeness to the animal creation of 
course vary in England and Scotland with the language of each 
country. English Fox is superseded in Scotland by Tod, a very 
common name, having the same meaning. Bullock becomes 
Stott, and Crow Craw. Hogg in Scotland is not to be traced 
to pig, but a lamb a year old. Mr Stork, of the Scottish 
register-office, from whose sixth annual report (just issued) 
these statements are taken, has also had the curiosity to note 
the Christian names occurring upon the registers. In 3,690 
entries of births of boys there were only 67 different Christian 
names, but among a like number of girls there were S6. John 
and James greatly preponderate among the boys. Among the 
girls Margaret is the favourite name, but Mary is very close to 
it. In the Highland clans Mary decidedly preponderates, but 
Margaret in all other parts of Scotland. Several names not un- 
common among girls in England did not occur so many as three 
times in the entire Scottish list of 3,689— Beatrice, Clara, 
Emma, Julia, Lucy ; and among the 3,690 boys there were not 
three with either of several of our common English names — 
Alfred, Arthur, Benjamin, Frederick, Philip, Stephen. The 
girls' list shows many variations from what we should find in 
England ; there are twice as many Elspeths as Emilys, twice as 
many Marjorys as Louisas, four times as many Euphemias as 
Harriets, five times as many Graces as Carolines. 

Well, at length we reached the well-kept villas clustering 
about Windermere, and were soon set down at Rigg's Hotel, 
from which the view is so fine. What the private apartments 
may command, I know not, though some friends we found there 
said their breakfast was capital ; our's in the coffee-room was 
execrable in every way. We strolled down to the lake, past 



45 

Spencer Hall's hydropathic establishment, 'ami found its surface 
crowded with empty boats, "as the season had not commenced," 
notwithstanding such weather. From its natural formation 
the lake district is, of course, generally moist, and some idea 
may be formed from the fact that at Seathwaite, in Borrowdale, 
no less than 35 inches of rain fell last September (1863). What 
fell at Keswick during May of that year, I have been unable 
accurately to make out, hut this year the table is as follows, 
and without any parallel, they tell me. Nay, such a season 
they have had during the whole of June and the better half of 
July, when we were shivering on the east side of the island, as is 
not in the memory of living man. We all remember the straw- 
berries without flavor, and the hay without fragrance ; in 
fact, vegetation halted rather than progressed till St. Swithiu 
came, and ever since then the drought has been as destructive 
as the withering cold. Turnips don't grow, peas don't fill, nor 
potatoes swell ; the brittle stalks of the light-eared corn, 
blighted with black lice and red robin, snap prostrate and 
wasted by the electric gusts. Lean stock is a drug, and fat at 
prices fabulous. The wells fail, and springs, hitherto inex- 
haustible, cease their welcome health- bestowing flow. Far- 
mers —with true English privilege, ever grumbling, though ever 
genial — may well look glum ; and so may we, for the year will 
he short— very short indeed. Even the foliage, frizzled on the 
trees, falls 'ere its due time, or rattles in the air. July, as we 
all know, is usually wet, and to shew the gage this year, Mr 
Plant, M.B.M.S., says that at Birmingham the fall of rain there 
that month — - 7 inch — was less than in any previous July since 
1825, when only 0"32 inch was collected ! For another com- 
parison we must go back to 1800. The summer of 1826 was 
very dry ; only 0"53 inch of rain fell there in two months end- 
ing July 1, but the country suffered more from intense heat 
than drought. There was more rain in July, 1826, than in the 
same month in 1825. At Brackley, Northamptonshire, August 
6, at 3 p.m., the temperature of the air was 75 deg., while the 
dew point (that is, the temperature to which a body must be 
reduced in order for the moisture in the atmosphere to begin 
to condense upon it) was as low as 47 J deg., or 27^ deg. lower 
than the air temperature. The atmosphere near the surface of 
the earth contained at the time only 38 per cent, of the vapour 
of water that it was capable of holding. The wind was north- 
westerly and moderate, the barometer stood at 20'65 inches, and 
the sky brilliantly clear.* But here's the table taken at Kes- 
wick : — 

Rainfall, May 1864. Inches. 

May 2nd -582 

"3rd 174 

"4th 150 

"6th -148 

"7th -470 

"21st -130 

" 29th -145 

"31st -250 



Total s 2049 

The month of May, 1 863, was unusually fine, yet that of this 
* Appendix. 



40 

year surpassed it, as the following extract from Mr Fletcher's 
" Meteorological Journal '' at Tarubank, proves : — 
Date. Temperature. Eain. 

^x. Mil 5g go" Kange. g£J Inches 

May, 1863.. 028 .. 360 .. 54"5 .. 429 .. 268 .. 4872 .. 3756 
May, 1864.. 78'0 .. 363 .. 59'9 .. 436 .. 417 .. 51-60 .. 2"264 
The thermometers are standards by Negretti and Zambra, and 
are four feet above the ground. 

'Ere we went down to the station, Banting received a tele- 
graphic summons to the West Riding, so instead of driving to 
Keswick we had each other's company so far as Darlington, 
where we terminated our trip by a little dinner at the King's 
Head. I ordered it by telegraph from Tebay. "Dinner for 
three at seven sharp to-night. T bring fish." Is that all, he 
said, and where's the third ? All ! quite enough for so good a 
caterer as you'll see the landlady is. The new tenants 
are gathering money like hay, and will make their fortunes if 
they stand corn. As for the odd man, George here will join us, 
and we will to give you the best dinner we can get. He's fresh 
from the Sportsman at Caernarvon, though his healthy appetite 
did not require the good training of that excellent house to 
enjoy the fare to-night. There was only an hour before the 
mail train time, but we did a vast deal of execution in sixty 
minutes. Really, folks may think we were bagmen, " boxing 
Harry," and out for the week ; but it is pleasant now and then 
to sing with " our own Sweet Will," 

Then heigh ho ! the holly ! 

The holly ! 
This life is most jolly, 

Most jolly. 

They are welcome to every speculation within their power, as 
it does not affect the point one whit. We had a few days of 
real enjoyment, for which my thanks are due to a couple of as 
hospitable and as intelligent fellows as are out, and whose kind- 
ness I can never forget. If anybody else has my luck, may the 
same feelings be excited— so now. But what on earth should we 
have done without these public-houses, so reviled by a well- 
meaning and industrious party, capable of so much good by 
their admirable organization, yet effecting so little ? We 
should have been wholly incompetent to derive amusement for 
want of home comforts, and hence the rapid interchange of 
passing thoughts would have been impossible. True, every- 
thing depends upon the choice of our companions in a 
tour. We must have originality — similarity of taste — 
and that freshness — that vigour of mind and determination to 
make the best of whatever comes uppermost. Of course you 
must ; but suppose for a moment, instead of being treated as we 
were at the George and at Brownrigg's, the tariff bad been re- 
versed—the women crabbed, the waiters crusty, aud the menus 
miserable ! Does any one in his senses believe we could 
have been so blithe aud hearty as we were ? Not a bit 
of it — we should never have been in form at all. As it 
was, we made the most of it ; and let eaoh who can follow the 
example — that's all I have got to say. These two hotels are 
not so large as those at Grasmere, Low Wood, Fortinscale, 



47 

Windermere, Ullswater, or Bowness ; but I'll back their service 
to be incomparably better, judging from my friends' experience 
and my own at various times. The only parallel in the district 
was the Queen's Head, at Keswick, in old John Frank's time. 
Buried alive at Oswestry, that man's retirement is a posi- 
tive loss to tourists— but may he with his kindly family 
long live to reap their well-earned otium cum dignitate. Such 
tenants command success. They combine all the essentials of 
the Boniface and Barleycorn families, which may be summed 
up in scrupulous attention to the outer and the inner man, 
with the clever tact of making their guests, whatever their 
condition, thoroughly comfortable and contented. As Mont- 
gomery says : — 

" Hail to the timely welcome of an inn ; 
Hail to the room where home and cheer begin : 
Where all the frost-bound feelings melt away, 
And soul- warm sympathies begin to play, 
While independence shows her manly mien, 
And sterling traits of human life are seen." 
At Kirkby Stephen there was the inevitable poet Close, with 
his interminable books and papers, the latter of which he will 
supply whether one asks or no. Poor man, he boasts the 
patronage of the Queen and Prince, the French Emperor, 
Bishops by the basketful, Duchesses by the dozen, and Peers 
innumerable. Whether from a typographical error or no, by 
way of a joke indicative of the merits of his authorship or 
otherwise, I cannot determine, but he makes out the Hon. Col. 
Lowther, M.P. , to be the wise man of Stainmore, and has the 
advantage of the countenance even of the High Sheriff of West- 
moreland and the influential Pease family ! All this is in print, 
and much more ; but, knowing the facts, the climax is worth 
quotation, and defies criticism :— 

" A curious Sight to see at the Kirkby-Stephen Station — the 
Poet who has fought so many Battles with Punch ; a Pension 
granted by Lord Palmerston, and £100 from the Queen — to see 
this man selling his own Books and Portraits at the said Station, 
talking with Lords and Bishops. Punch has been pleased to 
praise his last book in connection with the talented Martin 
Tupper." 

We all three got on talking about dogs and horses, riding and 
walking. For the latter exercise I know no better preparation 
than four ounces of clarified white soap, four ounces of clarified 
mutton suet, and the same quautity of olive oil, with a little 
essential oil of lavender, to make the application pleasant. Of 
these ingredients mix the three latter, adding the former, 
and with the compound anoint your feet well each morning 
before going out, and slightly on coming in. So far as I am 
concerned, soaping the socks is all that is necessary for hard 
and continuous work ; but mentioning this the other day to 
Charles Elson, the Northampton pedestrian, who does 56 miles 
a day continuously with ease, and will back himself to surpass 
his trainer, Mountjoy, who accomplished no less than 60 for 
six successive days in the year 1S40, he told me all he used was 
strong brine at night, and a good dry rub after each journey. 
It is wonderful to see that man run, or rather bound, and 
spring as he does, without touching the ground with his heel ; 
taking a fresh man every mile, and beating ten of them within 



43 

the hour. He is only 30 years of age and looks younger, stands 
5 feet 5 inches, and has the most delicately small arms to 
extraordinary legs, while his chest, of course, is well formed. 
But for all foot exercise a vast deal depends on boots." He, to 
be sure, uses shoes ; but for each it is essential to have good 
dubbing, and perhaps one of the best receipts is this : — Stew 
for four hours in a steam bath, and then stir till cold, a pint 
of boiled drying oil, the like quantity of neat's-foot oil, one 
pound of Russian tallow, half a pound of bees-wax, and the 
same weight of Venice turpentine. If the mixture is too stiff 
or inconveniently thick, add more neat's-foot oil, and boil 
again for a few minutes. For a common dressing for fishing 
boots there is nothing like fine shreds of Indian rubber dissolved 
in an equal weight of linseed or fish oil er goose grease. These 
are of course merely for keeping them in order ; but before every 
season, if your man is not up to it, the shoemaker should have 
your boots, and thoroughly soak and soften them for at least 
three days. Everything depends upon the condition of one's 
feet, otherwise the best man in England would be nothing on the 
read or noir. 

In these papers nothing in the form of a guide-book, of which 
there are already sufficient, has been attempted. They have been 
written more with a view to forming a grateful souvenir of 
six happy days passed by friends in the eDjoyment of each other's 
society ; but the Counties embraced in the narrative are so inte- 
resting that a reference to the books consulted may perhaps lead 
others to tread the same ground. The history of Westmoreland 
and Cumberland, published in 1829 by Parson and White ; Tur- 
ner's history of the Anglo-Saxons ; Gibbon's " Decline and Fall ;" 
the Rev. Isaac Taylor's " Words and Places," issued this year, 
and reviewed in the July number of the Quarterly, occur to me 
at this moment, as well as "Buckle's History of Civilization," 
to my mind the most interesting and instructive book of this 
century; Magna Britannia et Hibernia, antiqua et nova — a 
very scarce and old book by "an impartial hand," but without 
the author's name ; Whellan's clear and comprehensive History 
and Topography of Cumberland and Westmoreland ; Camden's 
Britannia ; Lord Dufferin's Letters from High Latitudes ; 
Latham's Ethnology of the British Islands ; his Eastern Origin 
of Celtic Nations, and his English Language ; Lyell's Antiquity 
of Man ; Thos. Wright's the Celt, the Roman, and the Saxon — 
a very useful book; Yonge's History of Christian names; 
Borrow's Wild Wales ; Celtic researches into the origin, tra- 
ditions, and language of the antient Britons, by Edwd. Davis ; 
and Lord Ellesmere's Arohajology ; but above all perhaps the 
most useful authors for the subject, iu a local point of view, 
are Ferguson, Anderson, and Worsaae already mentioned. 



49 



APPENDICES. 



Vide p. 6 ante. 

After a similar fashion to the extraordinary mode of courtship 
referred to— ancient customs, no doubt, for securing a material 
guarantee for the future prospect of peopling the earth — 
we have the bundling of Wales, and the nocturnal visits of 
the betrothed in the Canton of Unterwald. The publication 
of the remarks, circumstances, observations, and facts I felt 
compelled to notice with reference to the preponderance of 
illegitimate births in Cumberland having startled a number 
of persons possibly, and " nettled" an anonymous corres- 
pondent writing under the sobriquet of " A Cumbrian," 
it is, perhaps, better to extract the note from Anderson's Cum- 
berland ballads, referred to in the text under the date of the 
17th May, premising that no more fair or truthful writer is 
extant : 

Note TIL, p. 202. 
" "When aw t'auld fwok were liggin asleep. 

A Cumbrian peasant pays his addresses to his sweetheart during 
the silence and solemnity of midnight, when every bosom is at 
rest save that of love and sorrow. Anticipating her kindness, he 
will travel ten or twelve miles over hills, bogs, moors, and mosses, 
undiscouraged by the length of the road, the darkness of the night, 
or the intemperature of the weather. On reaching her habitation 
he gives a gentle tap at the window of her chamber, at which 
signal she immediately arises, dresses herself, and proceeds with 
all possible silence to the door, which she gently opens, lest a 
creaking hinge or a barking dog should awaken the family. On 
his entrance into the kitchen, the luxuries of a Cumbrian cottage 
— cream and sugared curds— are placed before him by the fair 
band of his Dulcinea. Next the courtship commences, pre- 
viously to which the fire is darkened or extinguished, lest its light 
should guide to the window some idle or licentious eye. In this 
dark and uncomfortable situation (at least uncomfortable to all 
but lovers) they remain till the advance of day, depositingin each 
other's bosoms the secrets of love, and making vows of unalterable 
affection. Though I am so far partial to my fair countrywomen — 
deaf in some instances — and respect their very prejudices, I can- 
not conclude this note without representing to them the danger 
and impropriety of admitting the visits of their lovers during these 
hours of the night, which virtue and innocence have appropriated 
to repose. Nothing more encourages unbecoming familiarities, 
nothing more promotes dissolute manners, nothing more endangers 
female chastity, nothing more facilitates the designs of the seducer 



50 

than these nvM courtships. A custom that leads to such serious 
consequences, however general it may be, or whatever antiquity it 
may claim, cannot be too soon abolished ; and I am so much con- 
vinced of the good sense and purity of mind of the Cumbrian fair, 
that I am confident as soon as they reflect on the guilt and misery 
to which it so often leads, their virtue will take alarm, and they 
will see the danger which arises from admitting the visits of men 
in improper situations and at improper times." 

This custom, and the statute fair3 still prevailing, cause and 
effect being indissoluble, and human nature as it was in the 
beginning, I have nothing to retract— nay, rather much to add, 
were it worth while, on this subject, and that of ignorance and 
superstition. Suffice it to say, however, the Cockermouth, 
Keswick, and Penrith Railway will be opened next month— the 
Directors having exercised in these days of carelessness and 
costs a wise discretion in their cautious delay— and civilization 
is at hand. While yielding to no one in loving the Lake Dis- 
trict, with its every yard of beauty and of interest, so readily 
enjoyed on horseback, with a knapsack or otherwise, it would 
be stupid to ignore facts— such blindness is mere prejudice, 
and concealment weakness, if not worse. 

Let any impartial man read Miss Martineau's little guide 
book and peruse pages 35-8 and 57 if he denies the intellec- 
tual condition of the county, which, existing in this enlightened 
age when reason guides the chariot, bearing onward, swiftly on- 
ward science and knowledge understandedof the people, shames 
to one's very face the pious frauds spoken of by Matthew Paris, 
the most eminent historian of the thirteenth century ; Tubin- 
gen's delude and Auriol's Ark at Toulouse in 1524 ; Horst's 
golden tooth in 1595 ; giants 30 feet high, winged dragons and 
armies flying through the air, all implicitly believed in with 
other falsehoods no less extravagant and more crafiy during the 
Ages of Faith, which were really cycles of delusion and darkness. 

P. 18 ante. 

With reference to the holmgang, the reader may be referred 
to the 13th sect, of Worsaae's book, as well as other authors 
mentioned- and for its illustration to No. 542 in this year's 
academy, "A Norwegian duel," by Tidemand, which claimed 
as prominent attention during the season as any work in the 
gallery Until the Exhibition of 1862 this great artist, the 
head of his school, was almost unknown in this country, save 
to the highest connoisseurs in art, such as the late Duke of 
Hamilton the late Lord Lansdowne, the late Lord Ellesmere, 
and Messrs Cowan and Mathiesen, each of whom lent his pictures 
on that memorable occasion. Mr Phillips, of 23, Cockspur- 
street London, in making his extraordinaiy acquisitions in 
1862 'all of which were particularised in my "Impression" 
under the date the 28th November in that year, selected at 
once from this artist the only picture exhibited on sale, No. 
1428 and no one who beheld "The Administration of the 
Sacrament to sick persons and cripples in a Norwegian hut," 
can ever forget its force, or dispute the accurate taste dictating 
its purchase. But he did more, for he at once commissioned 
the artist to paint an original picture, leaving the size and 
detail and subject and everything to himself. The result is the 



51 

vemarkable work contributed. I make no apology in explain- 
ing it in the artist's own words, feeling assured that in au 
historical point of view it will be as interesting as the paiuting 
itself is in an artistic. So soon as the letter reached Englaud, 
the following literal translation was placed in my hands : — 

" You have asked me for some explanatory remarks on my pic- 
ture of "A Norwegian Duel, "and I have much pleasure in noting 
down the following facts and observations : — There are traditions, 
songs, and legends of such fights, which generally occurred at 
weddings, wakes, and yule feasts ; in short, whenever and where- 
ever there were gatherings of the people. On such occasions 
grudges, enmities and rancours came to a head, and were settled 
by combat ; or — and such an event is suggested by my picture — 
the dispute was caused by some incident which occurred at the 
feast, when brains and tongue were excited with drink, and the 
provocation thus given had to be atoned for in blood. These com- 
bats, as compared to the brawls of the present day, were decent, 
solemn, and in fact, chivalrous. They had their rules, which 
every one observed, and which were enforced by the bystanders. 
Their issue was held as a legal decision. Few complaints arising 
from such deeds were ever made to the authorities ; but in most 
cases, more especially when no mortal blows had been struck, 
some sort of compensation or indemnity was agreed on by the 
families of the combatants. I, myself, know of a case where a 
man's arm was wrenched out of the socket in the course of a fight. 
Instead of an action for assault, the case was arbitrated on by 
the friends of both parties, and the compensation consisted in a 
few days' assistance in harvesting, which the victor promised to 
give to the man he had injured. The duel which forms the sub- 
ject of my picture is a fight with axes — a weapon much in use 
about 150 years ago. It is still found in some of the peasants' 
houses, and fine specimens are preserved in the Old Norwegian 
Museum at Christiania. The axe was the peasant's staff and 
weapon, which he carried about wherever he went, even to church, 
when they were placed in the porch, which to this day retains its 
old name of the armoury. The handle was bent and shod with 
iron stripes, to guard it from blows ; and the blade was thin and 
carefully worked. My picture represents the issue of a combat 
with this weapon, and that issue — in the present instance— is 
fatal to both combatants. According to tradition, the duel took 
place at a farm in Tellemark, in Southern Norway, and the place 
is still shown where seven men fell in combat. They had long 
been feasting and drinking at the farm, when high words were 
uttered, closely followed by defiance, and that by fi^ht. The man 
who had first been struck down has been laid on a bench near the 
table. His young wife, frantic with grief, leans over him, and her 
child, dimly conscious of a great misfortune, hides its face in the 
mother's lap. Next to her a little boy, roused from sleep, climbs 
upon a chair. An elderly man — one who has seen many blows 
struck in his time — leans ever the body, and, hoping against 
hope, examines the wound. The other combatant has meanwhile 
been raised by his friends. Between the two groups an old woman 
— the mother of the dead man — presses forward ; on her arm is a 
winding sheet, which women frequently took to feasts, so as to be 
prepared for all emergencies. Grief, wrath, and revenge strive for 
the mastery, and with her left arm raised, she invokes heaven's 
curse upon the murderer. The whole party has broken up — the 
women move the plates and dishes. In thebackground, a young 
man leaps over the table to join the principal group, resume the 
quarrel, and perhaps renew the fight. Crowded together near the 
hearth, and struggling, illuminated by its blaze, are some women 
and children. From the bench this side the hearth rises an old 
blind fiddler, and attempts to grope his way to the door. Two 
children have sought refuge in the bed, where, frantic with fcur, 

n 



52 

they cling to one another. Quite in the foreground to the right, a 
man comes up from the cellar with a can of beer. The farm-house 
is built in the oldest fashion to be found in Norway. There is no 
chimney, and the smoke eddies up and escapes through an outlet 
in the roof. A moveable bracket projecting over the hearth serves 
for the hanging up of the pots and kettles over the fire. It is orna- 
mented with a dragon's head, and this ornamentation, too, in a 
manner, connects the present with the old pagan times. — With 
very best greetings, Adolph Tidemand. 

Mr Alfred Morrison, of Fonthill Abbey, a munificent patron 
of art, secured this interesting example of the Scandinavian 
school, the size of which is 7ft. 9^in. by 5ft. G^in. sight measure. 
With reference to my friend Mr Phillips, I wrote the following 
paragraph for the Durham Chronicle of the 15th January last : — 
"In our issues of the 10th of October and 28th of Novem- 
ber, 1862, in the series of papers on the International Exhi- 
bition of that year, occasion was taken to review, amongst the 
many collections then exhibited with an emulation and success 
never surpassed, that of Mr Robert Phillips, of 23, Cockspur- 
street, Charing Cross, goldsmith, by appointment, to H.R.H. the 
Prince of Wales. It is unnecessary to repeat the high opinion 
then expressed of him, either as a virtuoso or a jeweller. At 
that time his reproductions and adaptations to the present 
fashion of Egyptian and Etruscan ornaments elicited the 
unanimous applause of the best judges, and bore the palm 
even against Castellani, while his display of coral surpassed all 
the Italian courts unitedly could show. In full corroboration 
of every word the writer said, the subsequent report to the 
Imperial Government of the members of the Erench section of 
the International Jury upon the entirety of the Exposition, 
published under the immediate direction of their chief, M. 
Michel Chevalier,- vol. 16, p. 45, observes : — 'M. Phillips, de 
Londres, est un concurrent serieux pour nos fabricants ; sa 
collection de coiffures en oorail est remarquable par l'heureux 
ajustement des forme3 et la beaute des couleurs. Ses bijoux, 
dans le genre antique, et entre autres, plusiers colliers dans 
le gout toscan, sont de veritables types de gr&ce.' At the 
establishment in Cockspur-street has been for some days on 
view a marvellous collection of the finest coral and works of 
art — for such Phillips' jewels are rather than mere displays of 
wealth, gems in them, wondrous specimens though they be, 
being auxiliary and subservient to the general effect. Going with 
the times, no sooner was the Danish marriage with our English 
Prince — nowthe fresh occasionof happy auspices — decidedupon, 
than, in addition to the adaptations previously mentioned, he 
ransacked Scandinavian models, and has produced a variety of 
interesting objects in the most correct taste and perfect work- 
manship, all from antique designs, though new to our English 
ideas. Nor are Russian articles, which attracted so much at- 
tention in 1S62, wanting ; and all these things are so well exe- 
cuted, from table plate up to personal ornaments, as to rank 
as works of art each one of them. In our issue, 31st October, 
] 862, the sixth of the papers above-mentioned. Mosaic work 
was specially entered into, and one of the most beautiful ob- 
jects in Mr Phillips' present display is a specimen of Russian 
pietra dura, representing a cluster of various fruits, executed 



53 

in the round. The raspberries are carved out of rhodonite, the 
brambles are amethysts, the currants cornelians, the cherries 
carbuncles, and the foliage jade. By such means is this 
mockery of nature produced, and the illusion to the eye is so 
exquisite, that the palate or the touch can alone test the im- 
posture. Among his acquisitions from the great Exhibition 
were a set of nine miniature enamels, forming plaques for a 
casket, by M. Charles Lepec ; and these little gems, which we 
have had frequent opportunities of examining at leisure, at 
once stamp the artist as without any question the most original 
and consummate the world has ever seen. Petitot, Ziucke, 
Toutin, W. Craft, and numbers of others, brilliant and soft as 
are their examples, all were copyists, but this man is purely 
original, not only in design — perhaps a more perfect draughts- 
man never existed — but in his mode of treatment. As a climax 
to his efforts in 1 862, Mr Phillips shows the greatest work 
Lepec has yet conceived or executed, and perhaps the finest 
specimen of enamel extant. The object is a tazza, or some 
might call it a coupe. In the hollow is a picture — classic in 
conception, minutely delicate in detail, and equally brilliant 
and harmonious in color, as seems invariably to be the case 
with him — representing "Venus swiftly gliding over the surface 
of the sea in a car drawn by mermaids, while overhead hovers 
in mid-air Cupid, with a torch in one hand, and in the other 
the silken reins wherewith he laughing gently guides the water 
nymphs. The mermaids represent the two different types of 
beauty, the blonde and the brunette ; and in each figure there 
is so much female loveliness, both of form and expression, that 
one cannot forbear lamenting the hard condition of my- 
thology which dooms a termination so ignoble to beings at 
once so attractive and fascinating in the outset of their career : 
— Superne formosa mulier, desinit inpiscem. The half-buoyant 
figure of Venus, who, with her fair tresses falling over her 
shoulders in glossy luxuriance, and her snowy scarf floating 
gaily in the summer breeze, seems scarce to touch the car, but 
looks as if about to soar on high, is full of exquisite grace and 
joyous abandon. The gentle swell and crisp ripple of the sea, 
upon whose blue water the moon sheds her lustre, is charm- 
ingly expressed, as also the serene aspect of the sky— its azure 
vault studded with golden stars and dappled with silver clouds. 
In the rim, which is concave, are medallion miniatures, mar- 
vellously painted, of some of the most celebrated women, who, 
whether in the records of historic or imaginative literature, 
have exercised the most potent influence over ' the lords of 
creation.' Of this number are Delilah, Oinphale, Semiramide, 
Armida, Cleopatra, and Desdemona, whose portraits are in every 
instance surrounded with allegorical devices emblematic of their 
respective characters. On the foot, which, a3 well as the stem 
of the cup, is profusely decorated, are pictures of Laura, Bea- 
trice, and Leonora, the heroines of the three great Italian poets. 
The outside of the tazza is elaborately ornamented with flowers 
and foliage, painted in a manner to resemble the lacquer-work 
of the Japanese. Tt is not our intention to write any disserta- 
tion upon the various merits of the cloisonne or champleve pro- 
cesses -the works of Cellini, those of Venice, Flanders, Flor- 
ence, or Limoges ; but we believe that so rare an object of fine 



54 

art of its kind as that we have attempted thus imperfectly to 
describe, has not been seen in any age, and the sensation it 
has created can be no matter of surprise. At the Exhibition of 
1862 a medal, No. 6,658, class 33, was awarded to Mr Phillips 
for ' works in gold and silver, coral and precious stones, excel- 
lence of design and manufacture,' and no one has better sus- 
tained his reputation." 

Mr Morrison also became the shrewd purchaser of this mar- 
vellous object, of the plaques mentioned above, many other of 
the choicest gems in the Exhibition, and T hope may secure 
those with which M. Lepec has just supplied my friend, about 
whom the Art Journal writes this month : — 

THE POMPEIAN NARCISSUS. 

The agents of the government excavating at Pompeii, 
under Signor Fiorelli, have recently discovered some relics 
of great beauty and value, of which one of the most 
precious is a statuette of Narcissus, to which, in its sacred 
oxide of nearly eighteen centuries, a place has been assigned 
in the Museo Borbonico at Naples, among the bronzes 
from Herculaneum, Pompeii, and Stabia;. Our knowledge of 
the statuette is derived from a reproduction in the possession 
of Mr Phillips, 23 Cockspur-street, who has been appointed the 
agent in this country for the disposal of copies. The height of 
the figure is about two feet ; it stands with the weight of the 
body resting on the left leg, the right leg behind, as if having 
either suddenly stopped, or moving very stealthily forward. 
The right hand is held out as the action of a listener enjoying 
silence, and the inclination of the head forward and sideways 
coincides with the hand, as the natural position assumed by a 
person either listening to an indistinct sound, or waiting for 
its repetition. The left hand rests upon the side, with the 
elbow thrown out. The hair is confined by a chaplet without 
leaves, but with bunches of benics over the forehead— perhaps 
myrtle or ivy, in which case the artist must have intended a 
convivial crown. From the left shoulder depend the spoils of a 
goat, in allusion to the hunting excursions undertaken with his 
sister. Another reference to this is the Cothurnus, which is 
admirable in design, as from the he< 1-piece rises a flower that 
spreads forward on eve'-y practicable space to the front of the 
foot. The modelling of this, together with the front lacing, 
is most perfect, and the same care prevails in another part yet 
more difficult, that is the hair, the arrangement and working 
of which show the most refined taste and masterly skill. He 
may be supposed to be listening to the love-wailing of the de- 
spised Elcho. or he may be contemplating his own figure in the 
pool, and approaching it with a silent and stealthy step. 
Youth and beauty are as definite in the figure as In the Apol- 
lino, and, although at rest, it is as light as the Mercury of Gian 
Bolonga. In the face there is an individuality far apart from 
the grave majesty of the Greek type. The expression brings us 
back to the idea of the wailing Elcho ; the voice seems to be 
behind him, and he refuses to turn. Whether we consider 
the back or the front, the course of the lines swelling and re- 
ceding is remarkably beautiful, and the easy <iuietude and 
wrapt atten'.ion of the attitude take us into the story, without 



55 

leading us to forget the figure, to which, iudeed, it is sorae^ 
thing to have given a living consciousness of superior personal 
attraction with some affectation and a maintenance of the 
style known among ourselves as dandyism. The manner and 
feeling of the work seems to be Roman. By the way, of Mr 
Philips's statuette as a copy, it must be said that nothing can 
be more perfect— we speak, of course, of the surface imitation 
of the figure, not having seen the original. 
P. 37. ante. 
Without an acquaintance with the facts the song loses half 
its point, but the performance consisted of the trial scene from 
" the Merchant of Venice," and Bottom's dream in the " Mid- 
summer's Night's Dream." The verse quoted in the text was 
the third, the rest being. 

Gloomily roll'd the dull world along 
Till Pierus gave birth to the Muses and Song ; 
But Joy ask'd for more than the Grecian Nine, 
So Noah bethought him, and plated the Vine. 

Chorus. 

The first of toasts on our list must be, 
' ' The Island Qneen I" with three time three ! 
May guardian angels round her smile, 
And shield the throne of the sea girt isle ! 

Chorus. 
v » y * * 

Now we'll drink in dark red wine, 
* ' The Tragic Muse in her wreath of vine I" 
And then a goblet full I'll ask 
For " Thalia with her comic mask." 

Chorus. 
With reverend mien we now will fill 
A bumper to our own "Sweet Will !" 
Accept, Great Shade ! our widow's mite, 
Poor tribute that we bring to-night. 

Chorus. 
Toast now our Actors, every one ; — 
Thanks for tragedy, thanks for fun, 
Thanks for song, and thanks for scene, 
Thanks for the Duke, the King, the Queen. 

Chorus. 
Thanks for saving Antonio's life 
From bloody Shylock's sharpen'd knife, 
Thanks to the Clowns so ably led 
By wit, for once, in an ass's head. 

Chorus. 
Thanks to our friend, that rara-avis, 
Gratiano and Quince, as joined in Davis, 
Bassanio, too, who has to try-on 
The tawny skin of a roaring lion. 

Chorus. 
Thank the " Clerk" that a " tinker" made, 
The bearded youth that Thisbe played ; 
Thank the bright elves and fairy myths, 
Phipps, Wetberell, Bell, and little Smiths. 

Chorus. 
Thank Starveling, he who next appears, 
Knight of the thimble and the shears. 
Starveling ! give to thy starving truce, 
Forswear thy cabbage and cook thy goose. 

Chorus. 



56 

Thanks to our friend who fills the chair, 
Whose generous hand and vertu rare ; 
Whose gems and counsels, lace and gold, 
Made oiir Venetians outshine the old. 

Chorus. 

Time fails to follow the tempting theme ! 
Venice farewell ! farewell, sweet "Dream!" 
Good bye ! sweet Bottom, Titania, Puck ; 
Adieu, ye flowers, where bees do suck ! 

Chorus. 

Adieu, proud plumes, gold lace, and pearls ; 
Adieu "mechanical," ill-dressed churls; 
Adieu the Duke, the Court, the Courtier, 
The rascal Jew, and the learned Portia. 

Chorus. 

Adieu the band, the tuneful choir, 
The painter's brush, and Marshall's lyre ; 
The curtain falls— dimm'd is the light. 
"Good night ! with lullaby— Good night !" 

Chorus. 
And may no sorrow here be found, 
But mirth and laughter, toasts go round. 
"Tho" last, not least in our esteem" — 
Tom Speciall's health— thanks for his theme. 

Chorus. 



It seems a strange thing after all, when one comes to think 
about it, that there should have been so much hubbub and fuss 
throughout the breadth of merrie England and all Germany 
to celebrate the birthday of a child 300 years ago, and that 
even villages became inspired by the enthusiasm and excite- 
ment of the moment. The rector of Haughton-le-Skerne, the 
Rev. Edward Cheese, though highly and emphatically disap- 
proving of the stage and all connected with it, as leading too 
likely towards dissipation and neglect of work among his 
parishioners, strove as hard as any man to get up in the neigh- 
bouring town of Darlington a pronunciation of a more perma- 
nent and important character than it was found possible to 
achieve, hit upon the happy expedient of localising the cele- 
bration of the 23rd of April, 1864, in " the old tithe barn" 
attached to the rectory, which he of all incumbents on record 
has made the place of genial githerings. The apartment was 
hung with flags ; at the back of the dais or stage at the north 
end was placed the initials of the immortal bard in coloured 
lamps, and the audience filled the whole of the available space 
left. About seven o'clock, he read a short address, and intro- 
duced the name of Mr J. G. Grant, whom he had specially 
brought over to lecture on " the Life and Works of Shakspeare." 
The proceedings, however, commenced with a performance by 
Mrs Cheese on the pianoforte, and then Mr Grant stepped for- 
ward. As a lecturer generally, and on Shakspeare in particular, 
this gentleman has few equals. Perhaps his reading of plays 
and his wonderful power of expression are without parallel in 
the North of England. He said the bard of Avon had com- 
posed something like thirty-six distinct works, and among them 
six or seven tragedies, the least excellent of which were supe- 
rior to all except the highest order of the Greek drama, while 
four of them— Macbeth, Othello, Hamlet, and Lear— infinitely 



57 

surpassed all tragedies, whether aucient or modern, Greek or 
Gothic, llis comedies, such as "As You Like It," "Much 
Ado about Nothing," "Two Gentlemen of Verona," and 
*' Twelfth Night," literally overflowed with wit and humour, 
besides abounding with profound philosophy and exquisite 
poetry. His romantic dramas, such as "The Tempest" and 
"A Midsummer Night's Dream," with the spirits and monsters 
In the former, and elves and fairies in the latter, exemplify in 
the highest degree the marvellous inventive faculty of the poet's 
art — being the pure creation of his original and versatile genius. 
Indeed, as Dr. Johnson observed, had such beings been possible 
in life, they would have acted, and thought, and spoken, and 
moved precisely as Shakspeare tells us, so natural is he even 
in the preternatural. The lecturer's description of Ariel was 
charming — "light, graceful, humane, joyous, and exquisite, 
one of those 

* Gay creatures of the elements 

That in the colours of the rainbow live, 

And play on plighted clouds.' 

The very essence of ethereality ! The very impersonation of 
glancing, darting, glittering, and unsubstantial beauty and of 
thought, like the rapidity of motion ! Almost too delicate and 
fragile to be other than feminine, and yet not female." Shaks- 
peare's historical dramas, the lecturer remarked, were equally 
admirable in poetry and natural in spirit. Great kings, grasp- 
ing and stormy barons, sturdy yeomen, and crafty priests being 
alike faithfully pourtrayed. One grand peculiarity of Shakspeare 
was this, that his manner was without mannerism, his style 
ever without conceit ; and whether he dwelt upon town life or 
country, legal or medical experience, the court, the camp, or the 
council, in each he excelled. So profoundly proficient was his 
knowledge, that his writings never evinced any ignorance of 
detail or acquisition, the want of which was so marvellous. 
His lyrics and sonnets — " Venus and Adonis" and " the Rape 
of Lucrece," for instance — were full of grace and beauty ; and 
all his writings classed together formed an aggregate of intel- 
lectual power and wealth unequalled and unapproached in the 
purest sphere of literature and art of any age or of any coun- 
try, proving line by line and book after book his inexhaustible 
acquaintance with human nature, and applying to himself 
what he wrote of gorgeous Cleopatra — 

"Age cannot wither, 
Nor custom stale, his infinite variety." 
By way of illustrating poetic fancy, Mr Grant read, as only lie 
can read, the scene between Prospero and Ariel. As an instance 
of the sublime power of the poet, he gave that grand and 
dramatic scene in Richard III. — Clarence's dream. Comedy 
was illustrated by the dialogue, graceful and humourous, from 
"As You Like It," between Orlando and Rosalind, she dis- 
guised as a boy, and pretending to act his Rosalind, besides 
the brilliant squabble between Benedict and Beatrice, in 
"Much ado about Nothing," in a manner which delighted the 
audience. In defending the morality of Shakespeare, the lec- 
turer observed that it would be unfair to try the age of Eliza- 
beth by that of Victoria ; great allowance ought to be made 
for the bold rudeness of his age, compared with the squeamish 



58 

and almost moibid sentimental delicacy of our own. Even his 
lightest dramas, with all their faults, were openly acted before 
" the virgin Queen" and her " virgin court" without one word 
being omitted by the actors, or one syllable of disapprobation 
from the audience. Such might be the errors of the age, but 
he mentioned these facts in justification of the idol of the day. 
As an example of his moral and religious power, Mr Grant read 
with wonderful expression, from Henry V., the King's conver- 
sation with two sentinels of his army the night before the battle 
of Agincourt. Surely, he said, a man who in his own age and 
by his own contemporaries was called commonly "brave Will," 
"kind," "sweet," "gentle Will Shakspeare," and in whose 
honour pretty flowers are named to this day " Sweet William," 
could not have been any other than one claiming our tenderest 
affection and our deepest respect, both for his moral excellence 
and his unbounded talent. At different parts of the lecture. 
Mr Grant called upon the rustic choral society to perform " Full 
fathoms five," " Where the bee sucks," and " Come unto these 
yellow sands," from the Tempest, and "Who is Sylvia" (Cym- 
beline), and each was given in a manner and with a strength of 
lungs so vigorous as to show the extreme salubrity of the climate, 
if nothing else, and in a dialect purely local. By way of con- 
clusion, "a fairy song" divided a recitation of the quarrel in 
Julius Ca:sar by Messrs Pallister and Brown, representing Brutus 
and Cassius— and the handkerchief scene from Othello by Messrs 
Stabler and Boddy, who sustained the characters of the Moor 
and Iago respectively. These two efforts produced, notwith- 
standing their serious nature, the most unbounded mirth, so 
extremely solemn and furious and determined were the hearty 
volunteers, one of whom wore an immense beard and mous- 
taches as his Roman disguise ! ! The proceedings terminated 
with complimentary speeches and " God Save the Queen," 
everybody being convinced that no thought could be happier 
than that of enlisting the sympathies and securing the services 
of the natives in an entertainment for such a purpose, thus 
eliciting their interest with a lecture so admirable in every way 
as that, by the kindness of the Rector, they had the good for- 
tune to attend. 

In the year 1852, I witnessed, both at Devonshire House and 
the Lyceum in Sunderland, the performance of that rare band 
of amateurs who laid the foundation of the guild of literature 
and art. Antiquated fossil playgoers, carping, snarling critics, 
who spurn the very notion of nonprofessional attempts as 
something impertinent and audacious, were alike astonished 
and bewitched. Under the sole direction of Charles Dickens 

than whom no better or more life-like actor treads the stage 

Mark Lemon, poor Augustus Egg, Frank Stone, Charles 

Knight, Peter Cunningham, Eobert Bell, Wilkie Collins, great 
John Tenniel, F. W. Topham, and others, formed the troupe 
for whom Lytton Bulwer wrote " Not so bad as we seem," and 
dear old Clarkson Stanfield, Telbin, Pitt, Louis Haghe, and 
glowing David Roberts painted. Such a galaxy of talent defied 
criticism, and achieved a success that is remembered by each 
witness of it as nothing short of perfection. To attempt any- 
thing beyond tableaux vivanU or charades in the way of acting, 
requires a combination of talent and tact at all times difficult 



59 

to attain ; but the very thought of such a thing in Darlington, 
of all places in the three kingdoms, was considered by many 
hopeless, and wicked by not a few. So much for faint-hearted- 
ness and spurious piety, whose professors never reckoned so 
much without their host as on Tuesday, the 26th of April, 
when the Darlington Amateur Dramatic Club celebrated the 
Tercentenary. The entertainment provided by the committee 
even exceeded the most sanguine anticipations of their best 
friends— so thoroughly well done was every detail. The names 
of these gentlemen should be recorded, and each thanked — the 
chairman, Mr Edward Pease Elgee ; his coadjutors, Messrs 
Bailey, Heaviside, C. Brady, J. Hoggett, T. Brunton, J. B. 
Kirsop, J. Davis, W. Lear, J. Fenwick, W. Lee, M. Frier, 
Thomas Potts, and James Wilson ; the dramatic directors, 
Messrs W. A. Smith, T. Swinburne, and J. K. Wilkes ; the 
manager, Mr James Kendall ; the costume director, Mr M. 
Barker; the courteous and indefatigable hon. sec, Mr G. B. 
Carter ; the artists, Messrs Elton, Kendall, Bell, and John 
Dinsdale ; and, "though last not least in our esteem," Mr 
Clapham and his assistant, Mr Walker (by whom " the fairies" 
were allowed to aid with charming effect, and no girls could 
have looked or done better than these clever school-boys)— one 
and all deserve the kindest greeting. For some days before 
the performance tickets were so enquired after that it was a 
matter of no surprise numbers were refused admittance, and 
the Central Hall has perhaps never witnessed a superior or 
more universally gratified audience. The little theatre, a trifle 
too little, with its elegant proscenium surmounted by the arms 
and monogram of Shakspeare, was arranged on the platform, 
and the apartment so judiciously lighted that the stage, as in 
Italy, became, as it ought to be, the centre of attraction. Be- 
fore half-past seven o'clock every available space seemed filled, 
and there could not be less than 700 present. Precisely at 
that hour the bell tinkled — here, it may be observed, nothing 
could exceed throughout the evening the punctual attention to 
stage management, it far exceeded the ordinary accuracy of 
more pretentious houses— and up went the green curtain, dis- 
playing Mr Elton's graceful drop-scene (fairies dancing on the 
yellow sands in glowing moonlight), which was much applauded. 
The performance then commenced with the overture to Cas- 
sandra by the Philharmonic band, who occupied the orchestra. 
At its conclusion an admirably painted street scene in Venice, 
executed by Messrs Bell and Dinsdale from a drawing of Mr 
Elton's on the spot, was disclosed ; and Mr Kendall delivered 
the following prologue, which he had composed expressly for 
the occasion, and by nothing could the earnest of the treat in 
store have been better harbingered : — 

" All the world's a stage : 

And all the men and women merely player?. 

They have their exits and their entrances." 

Three hundred years ago the world beheld 
An entrance rare. His life was gentle, 
And the elements so mixed in him 
That nature might stand up 
And say to all the world, " This is a man !" 



60 

Three hundred years ago none thought the babe 

Slumbering in his cradle should rise up 

And strike with wondrous hand a harp whose chords 

Responding nature ever echoes back, 

Above the noise of party, sect, or creed. 

Strange ! that as lengthening time piles up the years, 

And generations pass, and science grows, 

His words but gather force, and meaning too : 

And furnish cottage, palace, senate, hall, 

With maxim, proverb, wit, law, rhetoric ! 

Hail, William Shakspeare ! such a fame is thine, 

That statues, monuments will fall to dust 

While still the English drama lives in thee : 

And lives because ef thee : and with new lifo 

Must live, since thou hast lived, tho' now and then, 

And here and there, men sagely think to do 

Both God and man a service, when they give 

A dubious hint, or silly slanderous sneer — 

To deprecate the drama, which as surely, 

So long as man shall " strut and fret his hour 

Upon this earthly stage," will ever " hold 

The mirror up to nature," to present 

A reflex of the manners and the ways of men. 

Friends, fellow-men ! let no apology 

Be needed for the play. Apology 1 

T'would be apologising to the world 

That Shakspeare lived 1 The drama follows man 

As surely as his shadow. " Look you to't" 

No queer or ugly traits of character 

Of yours get photographed ; — why then of course 

You'll say " how wicked !"— then perchance you'll try 

To break "the mirror," "drink upEasil?" ha ! 

Or * ' eat a crocodile ?" " Odds bodikins" 

" You may as well go stand upon the beach 

And bid the main flood bate his usual height," 

As seek to still those plaudits which resound 

Along the shores of time — whose voices cry 

" Here was a Caesar, when comes such another ?" 

Three centuries ago he lived, and spoke, 

And, tho' thus long his presence has departed, 

His spirit walks among the sons of men, 

Majestic as the forms of life his pen awoke, 

But with far statelier tread. 

" Why man ? He doth bestride the narrow world 

Like a Colossus, and we petty men 

Walk under his huge shade, and peep about 

To find our little graves." 

Ladies and Gentlemen, — While to-night Darlington preseuts 
her humble quota to swell the mighty meed of those large honours 
to which the name of William Shakspeare is entitled, we ask you 
to be somewhat less critical of the performance than considerate 
of the occasion that prompts the attempt. Hear us for our 
cause — believe us for the sincerity of our tribute ; censure us with 
a wisdom that separates not too distinctly between the will and 
the deed. Say not with Polonius, "I will use them after their 
deserts" — but, with Hamlet, resolve, both for your own tranquillity 
and our 'comfort, "Much better." "Use every man after his 
deserts, and who should escape whipping?" "Use us therefore after 
the honour of the occasion ; the less we deserve the more is in 
your bounty." 

Discriminating applause marked the most striking passages, 
and the audience at once settled down, with the assurance of a 
foregone conclusion as to the merits of the company by this 



Gl 

worthy specimen of one of its most active and able members, to 
peruse 

THE PROdRAMME. 

Glee— "Blow, blow, thou wintry wind." 

Members of the Choral Sojicty. 

SELECTION FROM THE MERCHANT OF VENICE. 

Act I., Scene 3. 

Scene 1.— Grand Canal. 

Shylock Mr M. Barker. Antonio Mr M. Frier. 

Bassanio Mr J. Fenwick. 

Overture " Massaniello." — Aiiber Band. 

Act IV. 
Scene 2.— Court of Justice. 

Duke of Venice Mr C. Brady. 

Shylock MrM.Barker. 

Antonio . . .Mr M. Frier. Bassanio . . . .Mr J. Fenwick. 

Gratiano. . . . Mr J. Davis. Salanio Mr W. Hodgson. 

Portia.. Mr J. Kendall. Nerissa. .Mr Bell. Clerk.. Mr G.R.Phipps. 
An Interval of Ten Minutes. 

Overture "Tancredi." Band. 

Overture to Midsummer Night's Dream — Mendelssohn. . Piano-forte. 

Mr J. W. MarshaU. 

SELECTION FROM A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM. 

Act I., Scene 2. 

Scene 1. — Interior of Quince's House. 

Quince Mr J. Davis. Bottom Mr J. Ken dall. 

Snug Mr J. Fenwick Flute Mr W. Hodgson. 

Snout Mr G. R. Phipps. Starveling Mr H. Cuthbertson. 

Song "Where the Bee sucks." MissShutt. 

Wedding March Mendelssohn Band. 

Act II. 
Scene 2.— A Wood near Athens. 

Puck Mr W. Bell Oberon Master H. Wetherell. 

Titania Master A. Pile. 

Mustard-seed ) ( Master O. Smith. 

Cobweb VFairies-( „ B Smith. 

Peas-blossom ) ( , J. Phipps. 

Duet "I know a Bank" Miss Shutt & Mr Jas. Wilson. 

Scene 2. — A Wood near Athens. 

Glee "Ye Spotted Snakes" Choir. 

Scene 4.— Interior of Quince's House. 

Finale National Anthem. 

Even without the graceful supplication of Mr Kendall, it 
would be an ungenial and shabby part to criticise an amateur 
performance — but the finished execution of every portion of 
this varied programme forbids it. With the most vivid and 
refreshing memory of the brilliant representations of the distin- 
guished artists previously mentioned, let me award advisedly 
the most unqualified applause to this local effort, and say the 
great event of this year's April has been celebrated in a manner 
appropriate to the occasion. The dresses were excellent, and 
in the best taste. No one over- acted his part, or missed his 
cue. Each looked his character and observed his bye-play. To 
say this of Shylock, Hie Duke, Antonio, Gratiano, js no mean 
praise ; yet 'tis true. In the measured calm of Portia, no one 
on earth could recognise "bully Bottom ;" nor in the jewelled 



G2 

exquisite, elegant Bassanio, that stupid dun Jer-head "Snugtho 
Joiner;" while the metamorphose of the observant " Clerk" 
into that imbecile coward, "Snout the Tinker," was as prepos- 
terous and complete as good acting could accomplish. The 
characters were so well sustained that none other of the com- 
pany could so well have taken his neighbour's part. Tifeania, 
with her clear voice, was charming ; and perhaps one of the 
most telling scenes was that in which she lies watching her 
drowsy swain, the choir concealed singing the while, "Ye 
Spotted Snakes." Tuck was as mischievous and agile, and as 
graceful as he ought to be, which is saying a good deal — indeed 
how he managed to cut so many capers was marvellous to be- 
hold. Oberon, and the smaller fairies, "Masters" Cobweb, 
Mustard-seed, and Peas-blossom, could not have been better; 
nor could the ass's head or its management have been exceeded 
by the live animal. The whole performance was admirable ; 
dignity and drollery, delicious music and beautiful scenery, 
combined to make it most enjoyable. When one considers that 
all these gentlemen, with the exception of Mr Barker, have 
never appeared in public before, the completeness of the 
arrangements and the performance was something surprising. 
Oddly enough, too, the bulk of them are engaged in the three 
Banks in the town. Miss Shutt was encored in "Where the 
bee sucks," and gave in answer to the compliment, "Tell me 
where is fancy bred." The musical part of the entertainment 
was unexceptionable, and on more than one occasion the cur- 
tain was raised for actors and choir to bow their acknowledg- 
ments of the hearty applause they elicited and deserved. The 
chairman, Mr Elgee, announced, amidst great enthusiasm, that 
the performance would be repeated the following evening at re- 
duced prices, to accommodate a vast number who had been 
disappointed, and it transpired that the proceeds would bo 
divided equally amongst the Philharmonic Band as to one-third 
— another third being placed at the disposal of Mr Marshall, to 
whom the public owes so much for his education of the musical 
talent of the place, and by whom it will be applied for that pur- 
pose — the remaining third being reserved by the Dramatic Com- 
mittee for future use. 

It should be mentioned that Mr Day, the proprietor of the 
Theatre in the Green-tree Field, with the kindliest fellow-feel- 
ing, suspended his performance on the 2Cth, and that Mr Garth- 
waite, the painter and house-decorator, with happy readiness 
to do a good turn, as his wont is, gratuitously supplied the 
volunteer artists with all the appliances of which they stood in 
need. Coming so abruptly upon the great success of the first 
performance, that of the following evening was by many feared 
as a venture too hazardous, they said " it would be better to 
leave well alone." The result, however, was another triumph 
adding fresh laurels to all concerned, surprising and delighting 
a house almost as good as that of the previous evening. Touch- 
ing the audience, it was singular to remark the almost total 
absence of country families who are in the habit of attending 
the various entertainments at the Central Hall ; theirs was the 
loss, however, and so many felt when they discovered too lato 
the choice amusement they missed. Instead of failure by repe- 
tition, the acting was even better than on the first attempt. 



G3 

Good as Sbylock was then, his bye-play was more subtle on the 
second occasion— Gratiano and Peter Quince were equally 
graphic — while Bottom and Snout, the tinker, were, if possible, 
more irresistibly comic and diverting — indeed, young Mr Phippa 
kept us all convulsed with laughter whenever he appeared. 
The poor workhouse bairns had the entire front of the gallery 
placed at their disposal by the generous thought of the commit- 
tee, who seem to have left little immaturely or hastily con- 
sidered, and for whom, with the actors and musicians, the 
celebration dinner was arranged. Well, they deserved any 
mark of approbation, and right heartily without a doubt it was 
given. So far as the pauper children were concerned, how- 
ever, the hours were prudently considered by the authorities as 
too late to permit more than the compliment being paid, but 
the will may be taken for the deed, and the exigency regretted. 
The actors were photographed of course. " Photographed I" 
that's bo joke at any time, but " a swan on a road" is nothing 
to the absurd fun of seeing one's own chums " taken in charac- 
ter," which we witnessed in garish daylight, under the agreeable 
Influence of a blighting, fluttering north-east wind and sunshine. 
Poor old Sbylock, with his look of scowling horror, his scales 
just drop't — the Duke, in all the gorgeous array of rich silk 
robes, velvet, ermine, and snowy flowing beard (over his own) 
— the elegant Bassanio, always gay and jaunty, in black velvet 
slashed with white satin in diamonds bordered with gold, his 
jewelled cap and pied plume powdered with pearls — Salanio, in 
plum velvet, pomona cloak, and gold lace wherever it could 
increase effect — Antonio, in sad and sober garments, relieved 
with scarlet, as became his peculiarly unpleasant position— 
Gratiano, in Mazarin blue velvet and silver — all waiting for 
that horrid moment " ready," shivering in the open air, so that 
the stage itself should be included in the negative, formed a 
group, the like of which we never saw before except at Christ- 
mas, and from which, disregarding altogether Portia, Nerissa, 
and the Clerk, we might have expected, had there been some 
ale and yule cake, the best sword dance on record from the 
cleverest mummers out. No doubt the elements were unpro- 
pitious ; but the gentlemen appearing determined to immor- 
talise their fame, and Mr McLeisb, the photographer, having 
copyrighted his works, the result, embracing scenes from both 
plays selected, was nothing short of satisfactory at last. The 
excellence of Mr Marshall's pupils, and the efficiency of the 
Philharmonic Band, are so notorious that after saying the per- 
formance of these ladies and gentlemen, all amateurs be it re- 
membered, was "unexceptionable," lengthened criticism is 
unnecessary. On Wednesday, with great judgment, but a 
portion of Stevens' lovely composition, "Ye spotted snakes," 
was given ; for however delicate the music, the glee as an acces- 
sory is too long by half. The reading was faultless ; the rich 
coutralto of Miss Wood in the word " melody" told with deli- 
cious effect ; and as the lights were gradually dimmed, Bottom 
and Titania the while gracefully composed in balmy slumbers 
sweet at the foot of the flowery, ferny, woody scene, exquisitely 
painted throughout by Mr Bell (Nerissa and Puck), the whisper- 
ing cadence 

"So, good night, with lullaby. 
Good night," 



64 

was perfectly rendered and managed ; in fact, it would have 
done credit to London or Paris, Dresden, Vienna, or Berlin, 
even Venice of former days. The musical programme was 
faithfully fulfilled throughout with one exception, inasmuch as 
at the last moment the charming duet, "I know a bank" 
(singularly appropriate considering the calling in life of so many 
of the actors), by Miss Shutt and Mr James Wilson, had to be 
abandoned, in consequence of the absence of the latter. The 
young lady, however, substituted " Bid me discourse" (Venus 
and Adonis) at both performances, and the audience greeted 
her with that rapturous applause she invariably commands. 
The vocalists on the occasion, led or accompanied, as the case 
might be, by their accomplished master, Mr Marshall, were in 
reality the old church choir, and the ladies and gentlemen ten- 
dering this sweet aid were Misses Sarah and Mary Shutt, Jane 
Wood, Mary Simpson, Gardham, and Bennison ; Messrs Wal- 
lace, Young, Stairmand, Chapelosv, Jordan, and Wetherell. 
The last gentleman assisted his friend at the pianoforte during 
the overture to " A Midsummer Night's Dream" — a piece per- 
fectly unfitted for such an instrument in an apartment so large ; 
indeed, this music, so dainty for a band, fatigued the audience, 
and from none other than so popular a person as the performer 
would it have been patiently endured. The real charms of 
this amateur effort to commemorate the greatest poet and mas- 
ter of the English language unquestionably were its purely local 
character in the first instance, and its unlooked for perfection in 
the second. Everything was home-made, and everything fitted in. 
All the check-takers, door-keepers, and helpers generally were 
of the committee or their friends, and each wore the Coventry 
badge. The whole entertainment resembled much more agree- 
able private theatricals than any public representation. Never- 
theless, the order and precision observed were admirable ; and 
all the seats being numbered, not the smallest confusion arose. 
How much of our comfort depends upon attention to minor 
details ! Had there been any trouble about places, as there 
too often is — but thanks to Messrs Lee, Bailey, Potts, Heavl- 
side, Hardy, Snaith, and the assiduous treasurer, Mr Wilkes, 
to whom so much is owing, Kirsop, and the Hon. Sec. , there 
was no chance of that— it would have unsettled numbers for 
the whole night, and spoilt all their enjoyment. Nay, had the 
scene shifting been clumsy or unpunctual, which owing to the 
accuracy of the ever-ready and willing George Wilson, it was 
not, blunder after blunder would have marred the nicety of 
stage effect. The utmost attention was paid to subordinate 
parts. Nerissa, the Duke's secretary, and Salanio, in the little 
allotted to them, materially assisted the unity of the trial 
scene ; Flute, the bellows-mender, and Starveling, a tailor, 
looked their parts admirably ; and Mr W. Hodgson, when in 
piteous tones he said, " Nay, faith, let me not play a woman ; 
I have a beard coming !" stroking his downy chin, excited roars 
of laughter, so true is it — 

"One touch of nature makes the whole world kin." 

Other towns may have had grander pronunciations, no doubt ; 

but none can have been a more unalloyed success than our 

own. So well were all the scenes put upon the boards that on 

each rising of the dropscene an animated finished composition 



65 

was presented, in which no artist, no critic, could detect the 
slightest lack of harmony in grouping or in tone. Even the 
chairman, Mr Elgee, who on every stage of life has a pleasant 
word and heartiness for all around him, in conducting the 
songstress of the evening towards and from the footlights, was 
quite a picture. If the first essay of the dramatic committee 
had done no more than achieve a wonderful and momentary 
intellectual success, the town owes thanks ; but it has also 
created a wholesome and an agreeable impression among all 
classes, instructing and amusing them, while laying the founda- 
tion for future study of Shakspeare, than whom none ever so 
well understood the secret springs in the recesses of the human 
heart— he who can so deeply interest us with " The Merchant 
of Venice," as divert us with "A Midsummer Night's Dream," 
and send all home singing merrily — 

"Then heigh ho ! the holly I 
The holly ! 
This life is most jolly, 
Most jolly." 
The result of this Tercentenary is private "Shakspeare reading 
clubs," and regularly organised " Amateur Dramatic Clubs," all 
over in England, including even Darlington, than all which 
nothing can have a better tendency. An admirable code of 
rules has been arranged for our club, the officers for which are : — 
President— Fra. Mewburn, Jun. Dramatic Manager— J. Kendall. 
Treasurer— E. P. Elgee. Honorary Secretary — W. Bell. Committee 
— C. Brady, G. B. Carter, M. Frier, W. A. Snaith, J. Davis, J. W. 
Marshall, J. Fenwick, M. Barker, T. Potts, W. Minter, G. Wilson, 
and W. Smith. 

P. 39 ante. 
On Thursday, the 7th of April, the Darlington Choral Society 
gave their ninth, their most ambitious by far, and certainly 
most successful oratorio, to a crowded and delighted audience, 
in the Central Hall. At Christmas, 1856, they commenced 
their successful career with the Messiah, and in June of tbe 
succeeding year performed Haydu's Creation. In January fol- 
lowing the Messiah was repeated, and on the 11th oi the ensu- 
ing November Judas Maccabseus was given. In January, I860, 
Samson was selected ; in April, 1861, Mendelssohn's St. Paul 
was chosen, and in the November folio wing Judas was repeated. 
In March, 1863, The Creation was repeated, and then came in 
1864 the greatest effort of the highest musical genius of our 
day, without any exception, but with many imitators, the 
Elijah of the composer of St. Paul. At not one single per- 
formance has there been any failure, and the astonishing 
success of the society is due to the untiring energy, the pati- 
ence, and the tact of Mr J. W. Marshall, with whom the 
musical education of its amateur members, belonging to various 
classes in society, has not only been a gratuitous labour of love, 
but an essential advantage in a social point of view to the 
inhabitants of Darlington generally. While the kindred socie- 
ties of Stockton and Auckland are practically defuuct, aud that 
of Barnardcastle, if not in a state of absolute collapse, at any 
rate remains in abeyance, that over which he presides exhibits 
a vitality and a development truly refreshing. In consequence, 
therefore, of these other choral societies being unable to assi3t, 



66 

from which on previous occasions much help flowed hither, 
the numbers at the last performance were lessened ; but 
whether from this circumstance, or the thorough appreciation 
of the work in hand, or both in combination, there is no doubt 
the choruses were never either so brilliantly taken up, so accu- 
rately rendered, or so exceedingly difficult. From Stockton - 
whence formerly came a little rush of eager friends— but one 
arrived, Herr Schrniike (oboe), a German gentleman, who gave 
his time and his talents gratuitously. From Bishop Auckland, 
Mr Nicholas Kilburn, whose performance on the harmonium 
elicited great praise, especially in his exqusite accompaniment 
to the air, "For the mountains shall depart,'' in which he 
supplied the oboe part with remarkable taste and execution, 
and Mr Nevison, an alto in the chorus, were the only addi- 
tions. From Barnardcastle there was not a single representa- 
tive. The band was strengthened from Leeds and Sunderland 
— by none so much as Mr Wilson, of the former place, whoso 
obligato on the violoncello to the air, "It is enough, O Lord," 
and Mr Tate, of the latter, who, in addition to his thorough 
musical knowledge and mastery over four instruments, is so 
accomplished a linguist as to be proficient in no less than five 
languages ! The piincipals on the occasion were Miss Helena 
Walker (soprano), and Mr William Dawson (tenor), both from 
Leeds ; Miss Crossland (contralto), Huddersfield ; and Mr 
Ferry (basso), of Sunderland. The last gentleman undertook 
the character of the Prophet, and was a host in himself, for in 
addition to sustaining his own arduous duties with consummate 
taste and faultless tune, he brought as graceful accessories to 
the choir his two gifted daughters. Mr Dawson possesses an 
organ of ringing sweetness, which he has evidently cultivated 
with the utmost care, under, to any other man, overwhelming 
discouragement, and drew down almost the most rapturous 
applause of the evening, in which the orchestra joined heartily, 
and the audience positively demanded the repetition of the air, 
" Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun." Both ladies 
were suffering from catarrh, but each exerted herself admir- 
ably, and with a will deserving special notice. 

I once heard Mendelssohn improvise on " The harmonious 
blacksmith" — fine tribute from such a man — and his oratorio 
of Elijah is so descriptive and dramatic a score — possessing 
such rhythm throughout, so much unity combined with simpli- 
city in some parts, and the most wonderful, flashing, terrible 
genius in others— that it may be compared with any effort of 
other men, and banish comparison. Mr Ferry as the Prophet 
commenced with a recitative, "As God the Lord of Israel 
liveth" — which was immediately followed by an overture, 
eccentric and brilliant as to composition and situation. He 
tells the people, "There shall not be dew, nor rain these three 
years" — the overture woudrously describes the horrors of the 
drought— and the thirsty multitude then in chorus cry, "Help, 
Lord, wilt thou quite destroy us ?' In their first line was the 
only uncertainty or flinching they showed during the evening. 
Confidence, however, was soon restored, and in the next, 
" The harvest now is over, the summer days are goue," there 
was nothing to be desired. "The people" then bewail that 
' ' The deeps afford no water, the rivers are exhausted ; the 



67 

suckling's tongue now cleaveth for thirst to his mouth ; the 
infant children ask for bread, and there is no one breaketh it 
to feed them," in a recitative chorus, one of the most so of the 
many original and striking beauties of the composition, which 
was rendered superbly. It is followed by a duett and chorus 
of "The People" — " Lord, bow thine ear to our prayer," 
plaintive to a degree. Then Obadiah (Mr Dawson) the servant 
of Elijah, appears on the stage, giving a recitative " Ye people 
rend your hearts," and the air, "If with all your hearts ye 
truly seek me." rfere his clear silvery notes came out to per- 
fection, and the chorus of "The People," in desperation, 
" Yet. doth the Lord see it not ; He mocketh at us," formed 
one of those wonderful contrasts over which the composer had 
so astonishing a command. "An angel" (Miss Crossland), then 
warns the Prophet, "Elijah, get thee hence, Elijah !" to de- 
part, and with a double quartett "For He shall give his angels 
charge over thee," the most intense interest was excited, and 
remained unflagging till the close of the performance. It was 
sustained by the four principals, assisted by Miss Perry, and 
Miss Sarah Shutt, a very promising pupil of Mr Marshall, Mr 
John Burgin, and Mr James Wilson, than whom, with his 
brother, there are few steadier supporters of the society ; it 
produced a profound sensation, and would like many other 
parts have been encored, no doubt, but for the rapid flow of the 
composition, in which there appears no hesitation or hitch 
whatever. The angel (Crossland) again, " Now Cherith's brook 
is dried up," urges Elijah to "depart and get to Zarephath, 
where the Lord hath commanded a widow there to sustain him 
until He sendeth rain upon theearth. " The widow (Miss Walker), 
in a recitative, " What have I to do with thee, man of God," 
laments the sickness of her son, for whom she "goes mourning 
all the day loHg, and weeps at night," fears the prophet may do 
her harm, and slay him ; but Elijah says, "Give me thy son," and 
prays to the Lord to "restore the spirit of the child." The 
widow exclaims, " The Lord hath heard thy prayer, the soul of 
my son reviveth, and by this I know that thou art a man of 
God ;" a dialogue as dramatic as music can be ensues, and it 
was rendered with an ability surprising everyone. After the 
floe passage winding up with the chorus, ''Blessed are the men 
who fear him," Elijah determines, " As God the Lord of 
Sabaoth liveth," to show himselt to Ahab the King, and then he 
" Will send rain again upon the earth." Ahab (Mr Dawson) 
jeers the man of God — " Art thou Elijah ?" and " the people" 
unite "Thou art Elijah, thou he that troubleth Israel !" in 
tones the most insulting, when the Prophet magnificently de- 
claims, " I never troubled Israel's peace ; it is thou, Ahab, and 
all thy father's house ;" and the chorus follows suite. Between 
Elijah and "the priests of Baal" — "Baal, we cry to thee"— a 
tremendous scene results, in which solo and chorus received, 
as well they deserved, immense applause. In that chorus of 
the Priests, " Baal hear and answer !" occurs that pause of two 
bars so much admired, and nothing could well be more telling 
than the way in which it was observed. In a beautiful 
recitative and air, " Draw near, all ye people ; come to me !" 
the Prophet implores the mercy of God on the children of 
Israel ; and he is supported by a quartett of angels, "Cast thy 



68 

burthen upon the Lord ; lie shall sustain thee." In this the 
four principals combined, and in the chorus of the people, 
" The Are descends from Heaven," their rage turns upon the 
priests, and another of those graphic contrasts occurs, render- 
ing the composition so spirited and sublime. In the following 
air, " Is not His word like a Are ?" Mr Ferry began a bar too 
soon, but was instantly recovered by the conductor's unerring 
baton, and sang the remainder of the piece to perfection, reach- 
ing with ease and vigour F natural, the same note as tenors 
generally take, thus showing the extent of his register. Fine 
as the voice undoubtedly is, and consummate as his execution, 
it struck me that in this particular and remarkable air it lacked 
the massiveness and power so requisite for its interpretation. 
Obadiah and Elijah, the priests, being slain, in recitatives, " Oh, 
man of God" and "O Lord, thou hast overthrown thine ene- 
mies;" and the people, in the graceful chorus, "Open the 
Heavens," then implore God to send rain, while Elijah, " Go 
up now child," tells a youth (Miss Shutt) to "look toward the 
sea." A dialogue follows, in which the brilliant voice of this 
young lady was almost electrifying. At length she exclaims, 
"Behold, a little cloud ariseth, and the rain descends." Thus 
the first part closes with a chorus, " Thanks be to God; He 
laveth the thirsty land," of the most wonderful descriptive and 
inventive power imaginable, while exemplifying to the utmost 
the care bestowed in practice. With a punctuality he always 
observes, at the end of the " ten minutes" Mr Marshall was at 
his post, and Miss Walker sang with exquisite expression the 
air "Hear ye Israel," and the recitative, "Thus saith the 
Lord." reaching A natural with equal ease and precision. A 
fine chorus, '■ Be not afraid," as fine as anything in the book, 
followed ; but, although there were two comets in the band, 
they were tame, if not actually mute, when they should 
especially have come out in force. Elijah declaims, "The 
Lord hath exalted thee from among the people," and tells 
Ahab his wickedness, when Jezebel (Miss Crossland) reproaches 
him, and the chorus agree with her. The altercation is carried 
on until Elijah becomes wearied of the stiff-necked and 
perverse people and their detestable queen, and in the air, 
" It is enough, O Lord," desires to die. In this air Mr Ferry 
surpassed himself ; and the violoncello obligato accompaniment 
of Mr Wilson, of Leeds, was a performance of which dear old 
Lindley might have been proud. Here begins, and from this 
point to the recitative chorus, " Go, return upon thy way," is 
comprised, if it be possible to make a distinction of gems in the 
Elijah, its finest proportion. The trio of angels (the Misses 
Walker, Crossland, and Shutt), "Lift thine eyes" was thrilling, 
and gained a rapturous encore ; followed by the loveliest 
chorus of them all, "He, watching over Israel, slumbers not, 
nor sleeps," and its execution scarcely could be exceeded. In 
Elijah's next part, " O Lord, I have laboured in vain," the 
trombones, like one instrument, so true was the time, came in 
magnificently, as indeed they did at the close of the first part, 
" Unto thee will I cry." Miss Crossland, having at this period 
of the evening recovered from her hoarseness, gave the angel's 
air, " rest in the Lord, " with extreme taste, her fine contralto 
voice suiting the music admirably, while the flute obligato of 



09 

Mr Wetherell, a punctual amateur student in the local choir, 
was exceedingly fine, and gave high promise for the future of 
this young gentleman's career. Mr Ferry was applauded in 
Elijah's air, "For the mountains shall depart;*' richly he 
deserved the compliment, and with great ability, as has been 
previously observed, Mr Kilburn accompanied hina. When 
Mendelssohn first listened to this part of his composition 
on a full band, he wept. It precedes the mighty and 
dramatic chorus, "Then did Elijah, the Prophet, break 
forth like a fire," which concludes "Elijah went in a fiery 
chariot by a whirlwind to heaven," and that beautiful air, 
" Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun," in which 
Mr Dawson took his audience by storm and gained an encore. 
A quartett by the principals, " O come every one that thirsteth, 
O come to the waters, O come unto Him ;" followed amidst 
unsuppressed admiration, and the grand oratorio concluded 
with a final chorus, "And then, then shall your light break 
forth as the light of the morning,'' of jubilant and ecstatic 
praise and thanksgiving, like that at the close of the former 
part, reminding one of St. Paul, and finishing with an elaborate 
fugue. It is difficult to curtail any account of such a perfor- 
mance as this was ; for any town, even for the West Hiding, it 
would have been a credit. The numbers engaged in the 
orchestra were only ninety, including the four principals, and 
comprising twelve tenor, seventeen treble, eighteen bass, and 
ten alto voices ; four first violins, including Mr lies, a gitted 
youth from Leeds, and Messrs Temple and Ellis, local members, 
who have afforded the greatest assistance in getting up the 
chorus ; four second violins, two violas, three violoncellos, 
three contrabasses, two flutes, one oboe, two bassoons, two 
cornets, three trombones, harmonium, and kettledrums pre- 
sided over by a remarkably clever lad from Halifax. To Messrs 
Sang the secretary, Harris the treasurer, and Wallace the 
librarian, the utmost thanks are due for their enthusiasm and 
attention to the interests of the society, who, with their able 
instructor and conductor, Mr Marshall, were heartily con- 
gratulated on their accomplished success, all of us hoping at 
the same time that they may never experience less deserved 
applause than their last achievement elicited. The number 
of members on the books now is 70 ; in 1861 it was 90, and 
the continued absence from the society ot several talented 
amateurs in the town, one of whom particularly might take 
rank amongst professional violinists, is to be regretted. The 
audience filled every part of the Hall, and comprised among 
others the Rev. Dr. and Mrs Edleston, Gainford ; the Rev. E. 
and Mrs Cheese, Houghton ; Dr. Mackie, Mrs Coleman, Mrs 
Smithson, and Mrs Calverley Bewicke, Heighington; the Misses 
Dodgson and Mr Dodgson, Croft Rectory ; Miss Dodgson, 
Cockerton Hall, and her pupils ; Mrs Raifie, Snow Hall ; the 
Misses Fell, Gainford ; Mrs and Miss Scurfield, Hurworth ; Mr 
and Mrs Waldy, the Rev. W. H. G. and Mrs Stephens, the Rev. 
J. G., Mrs, and Miss Pearson ; the Rev. M. and Mrs Miller and 
the Revs. — Bentleyand J. T. Taylor ; Dr. Clarkson, Dr. Hasle- 
wood, Mr H. K. Spark and party ; Mr and Mrs J. P. Pritchett, 
the Messrs and Miss Macnay and Miss Cook, Mr E. and the 
Misses Kipling, Mr and Mrs W. Thompson and party ; Mis and 



70 

Miss Heslop, the Messrs and Misses Dinsdale, Mr and Mrs J. 
H. Bowman, Mr George Bowes and party ; Mrs Brewster, Miss 
Bamber and her pupils ; Mr and Mrs J. R. Fothergill, Dr. Couk, 
Mr and Mrs J. Marley, Mrs Marshall, Misses Booth and Misses 
Kilburn, Bishop Auckland ; and Messrs Moorsora, S. Russell, 
Bryson, C.E., T. Clayhills, Speciall, Clark, Brady, Fra. Mew- 
burn, jnn., &e., &o. 

P. 40 Ante. 
This entertainment was given to Mr William Hanson, on 
quitting the service of the Messrs Pease for that of Mr Samuel- 
son, over whose furnaces at Newport he has now the complete 
management— in fact, he will be his employer's alter ego there, 
instead of the subordinate he was here. All his friends and 
acquaintances, if of the latter he had any who were not the 
former, sincerely regret his absence from the social circle, for 
few, very few are so great in the esteem of others as himself ; 
but when it is remembered he is now in a position where his 
exceptional talents and his willing labours will be thoroughly 
appreciated and handsomely requited by a gentleman in every 
sense of the word, there is nothing but satisfaction in a change 
so materially to his own advantage in all respects. His late 
official chief, Mr J. R. Breckon, presided, and another fellow- 
mate, Mr C. R. Fry, occupied the vice-chair with equal ability. 
The evening was a very pleasant one till near its close, when the 
landlord sent in a, posse of waiters to clear the decks, while the 
guests remained. Yorick's brother-in-law, never more gay and 
debonair than on that occasion, ordered them out, and hence 
the conception of the following prospectus, which in its extra- 
vagance is no burlesque upon those of other bubble companies 
of the present day : — 

THE DARLINGTON HOTEL COMPANY (LIMITED). 
Capital, £5,000,000 Sterling, with power to increase to 

£10,000,000. 
This company is formed to supply a want long felt and generally 
expressed, of a really superior and well-conducted hotel in the im- 
portant and rapidly rising town of Darlington. 

Four sites offer themselves : — one, the present KiDg's Head, 
with the whole of the north side of Priestgate down to the Skerne ; 
another, the Sun Inn, with the D.D. Bauk and Prospect Place to 
Bondgate, on the one hand, and as much of Northgate as may be 
required on the other. The third site is " Kitching's Corner," 
with six, eight, or ten houses right and left, as may be agreed 
upon ; and the fourth from the Waterloo Hotel to the Bullwynd, 
Houndgate, and Petty's garden inclusive, utilizing or razing the 
Central Hall if necessary. 

That any of these properties can be obtained on reasonable 
terms there cannot be the slightest doubt, and it is only for the 
company to decide which of the four they will select. 

Thus securing all the advantages that position can command ; 
then ealling to its aid all that architecture in designing and erect- 
ing an imposing and classic front — all that liberal outlay and good 
taste can combine of comfort and elegance in interior decoration 
and arrangement — the company will be able to open to the public 
an establishment mere than rivalling all that northern England 
can produce. 

Nor will bricks and mortar, wood and stone, size and decoration 

of rooms, alone receive attention ; the staff — from manager to 

boots, from cook to scullery-maid — will be the object of most 

watchful care. 

The landlord of a good hotel— the temporary home of gentle- 



71 

men, men of education and of fortune — should be, as far as pos- 
sible, a gentleman, too. In vain do you erect a palace, if within 
you are to find manners the reverse of courteous. Our manager 
must have the Entree at St. James's, and our " Boots" shall be 
highly polished. 

THE INNER MAN. 

The cuisine will be, of course, a carefully-studied feature In 
England, too many people know a dinner only by name — they 
devour food, but the reality of a good dinner is a thing unknown 
to them. Hence, alas ! 900 of the 1,000 ills that flesh is heir to. 
From among the directors will be formed a committee of taste, to 
whom cookery has been the study of a life — men who wisely live 
to eat, and do not foolishly eat to live, and who will make of the 
Darlington Hotel more than a Greenwich "Trafalgar," a Bich- 
mond "Star and Garter," or a Sal tb urn "Zetland Hotel." 

LUXURY. 

To raise cookery to a science, and to make of eating and drink- 
ing a fine art, will not be the boundary of the company's ambition ; 
taste will emphatically reign supreme throughout all their arrange- 
ments. Wandering through the rooms provided by the Darlington 
Hotel Company (limited), or reposing on its luxurious couches 
and divans — the eye resting on statue and statuette, on paintings, 
both modern and ancient, on inlaid floors and gilded cornices — 
the guest shall fancy himself in a gallery of art, and not merely 
in an inn. 

ACCOMMODATION FOR THE INFERIOR CLASSES. 

To secure as much profit as circumstances will admit, and at 
the same time to allow all classes to share in the advantage 
offered by the new hotel, second and third class accommodation 
will be provided. But this will be underground, or carefully 
separated from the rest of the premises by stone walls and fire 
brick, so that no offence may be given to the people of quality, for 
whom the hotel is principally provided. 

VIRTUE. 

The hotel will be conducted on high moral principles. No late 
revels will be tolerated. At a certain hour the waiters will be 
ordered to remove bottles, glasses, dessert, or whatever may remain 
on the festive board. Smoking will be relegated to a remote part 
of the building, and swearing will be an extra, that is to say, 
profane language will subject the offender to a fine. The billiard 
room will be conducted on principles which even a Scotchman 
may approve. 

PHYSIC. 

The Valetudinarian will be invited to seek health within the 
walls of the Darlington Hotel. The medicinal waters of Croft 
and Middleton will be brought to the premises in pipes, thug the 
guests may have the benefits of Spa waters and Spa baths without 
quitting their bedrooms. Nor will the German ocean be 
forgotten, as an early tank or water butt train will be provided 
from Eedcar to bring to the hotel sea water for baths hot and cold, 
and fish of every imaginable variety, 

WINES AND LIQUORS] 

Good eating demands good drinking, and the Darlington Hotel 
Company (Limited} is determined to set its face against the mere 
"Vinter's brewings," misnamed wine, and to supply a genuine 
article, the real fermented juice of the grape from the days of 
Noah, acknowledged to be a health, strength, and joy-giving 
tipple. To accomplish this object, agents will be appointed in all 
the celebrated districts of France, the Ehine, Spain and Portugal, 
Hungary, &c., to make such bids as must secure the best vintages 
of all sorts. Thus will the wants of the highest and wealthiest 
class of guests be provided for ; but going lower down in the social 
scale, and looking to the smaller means of a style of "genteel 
hindigence," South African sherries, and the Chancellor's shilling 
Tariff clarets will find a corner on the wine lists. Even the Per- 



72 

missive Bill man shall not be sent empty away— a damp quarter 
near the eaves shall be provided, in which like the " Ancient 
Mariner" he will find " Water, water, everywhere," "And not a 
drop o' drink," unless it be Whitwell and Co.'s " Quinine Cham- 
pague," for wedding breakfasts and occasions of solemn feast. 

PROFITS. 

A late landlord of the house, soon to cease to be the leading hotel 
in Darlington, was heard to say at a public dinner — " Gentlemen, I 
consider myself the most prosperous man in the place." This 
change from early position was entirely due to innkeeping. If, with 
such limited means of pleasing the public and securing custom, 
such profits could be secured, and such a position taken in a town 
where some business men have certainly made some profits, what 
may not reasonably be expected with such appliances and means 
as ours? 75 per cent for the first year, with no expenditure car- 
ried to capital, but everything beyond the building of the house 
taken to revenue, 75 per cent, is a small and reasonable figure. 
But on this head we need not dilate, as nearly all the shares are 
already taken up, and what remain will be allotted only as especial 
favours, and to persons likely to become good customers. 

Provisional Office. —The Cattle Market, Darlington, 
Aiigust, 1864. 

P. 45 Ante. 

In many parts of the South of England the drought has pro- 
duced a disastrous dearth ; in Somersetshire and Cornwall 
cattle have long been fed on hay ; in the Isle of Wight water is 
sold at high prices for very small quantities -cattle are being 
driven miles for water, or it is brought great distances to them. 
Even here, in South Durham, where we don't suffer so much, 
the Tees is so low that there is no flow over the Dinsdale fish 
lock. Mr E. J. Lowe, writing from Highfield- house Observatory, 
(Aug 10), says the drought has been severely felt there, many 
shrubs and herbaceous plants having died. The hay crop was 
gathered with scarcely a drop of rain, the quantity deficient, 
and at the present moment the corn harvest U general. The 
following is the rainfall for 1864 : — 

Amount, Amount, 

inches. inches. 

January 74 May 129 

February 150 June 126 

March 256 July 052 

April 208 

v Total 995 

In May, June, and July, the deficiency has amounted to four 
inches. Up to July 31, 124 days were without rain. 

In Sussex the rainfall for the last eight years in the three 
months of each year, corresponding with those of this drought 

up to July, is : — 

June. 

195 

17 

152 

478 

3-53 

2 37 

411 

119 
It will be seen, therefore, that this year we have had less 
rain than in the dry season of 1859. July of 1863 was nearly 
as dry as this, hut the ground was better prepared, having 
over four inches in June. At Diss, in Norfolk (August 12th), 
when we had a very close day following a hot night, the minU 



Year. 


May. 


1857 .. 


.. 1-57 


1858 .. 


.. 177 


1859 .. 


.. 113 


1860 .. 


.. 365 


1861 . . 


.. 1 93 


1862 .. 


.. 353 


1863 .. 


.. 2 39 


1864 .. 


.. 121 



July. 


Total. 


110 .. 


.. 462 


316 . . 


. . 504 


Ill .. 


.. 376 


350 . . 


. . 1193 


2-65 .. 


.. 811 


195 


.. 775 


0-60 .. 


7-17 


055 . . 


. , 3 65 



73 

mum temperature in the morning was 32 -5 <leg. At 5 a m. the 
greund was covered with white frost, and ice the thickness of 
common window-glass was found on shallow troughs. That 
day week the greatest heat in the shade was 88 - 5 deg. Thus 
we have a range of 56 deg. in little over a week's time. 

After all, I find the crops will reach the average. In Scotland 
the turnips are excellent, and the harvest as forward as, if not 
more so than, in the best parts of the North of England, and 
nothing can exceed the loveliness of the weathei we are enjoy- 
ing in Argyleshire and the Hebrides. The following table is 

interesting : — 

Rainfall in the British Isles. 



Stations. 



February to July 
inclusive. 



1863. 1864. 



June and July. 



1863. 186*. 



July, 

1864. 



Camden-town, London 

Selborne 

Banbury 

Wisbeach 

Calne 

Goodamoor, Plymouth 

Taunton 

Orleton, Tenbury 
Wigston, Leicester 
West Retford . . 
Manchester 
North Shields . . 
Seathwaite, Cumberland 
Haverfordwest .. 

Dumfries 

Oban 

Danston, Perthshire . . 

Aberdeen 

Culloden, Inverness . . 

Portree, Isle of Skye . . 

Sandwick, Orkney 

Cork 

Killaloe, Clare 

Portarlington 

Monkstown, Dublin . . 

Galway 

Waringstown, Down , . 

Leckpatrick, Strabane 



Inches. 
921 
9 93 
8 25 
6 92 
9'88 
20 '82 
967 
957 
763 
6 02 
1111 
8-86 
60-63 
1257 
14-47 
26 93 
15 65 

9-12 

921 
47 54 
13 81 
11-64 
1673 
15 46 

7-59 
24-52 

8-80 
15 09 



Inches. 

812 
10 18 
10 53 

8-25 

8-72 
13 85 

9 13 
11-90 

9 40 
11-88 
15 45 
13-04 
49 01 
1219 
10-84 
23 65 
20 47 
13 54 
11-56 
3645 
13 11 
11-83 
12 82 
1305 

9 33 
23 78 
11-26 
17 21 



Inches. 
5 78 
5 03 
516 

3 76 
511 
8-34 

4 50 

5 52 
433 
4-13 
6-26 
4'85 

13 83 
5 01 

4 77 

5 25 
365 
310 
2 25 
8-02 

2 30 
5-37 

4 04 

5 35 

3 14 

5 59 
2 88 

6 39 



Inches. 
2-29 
1-49 
238 
1-67 
2-34 

4 42 
1-87 
4-50 
1-66 
275 
464 
2-77 

1919 

5 61 
4-55 
8 65 
7-69 
375 
3 57 

1208 
3 53 
2-76 
503 

2 91 
204 
8-42 

3 79 

6 05 



Inchs. 
•61 
•36 

•88 

•55 

•67 

1-63 

•70 

2-64 

•30 

1-01 

170 

•85 

7-57 

2-90 

1-55 

3 95 

3*85 

2-26 

1-90 

4-66 

1-63 

•70 

1-64 

•79 

•68 

3 01 

115 

2-56 



RAILWAY STATISTICS. 



The vast importance of the railway system cannot be ex- 
aggerated. The struggles during its gestation, owing to the 
prejudice of ignorance, or the strength of opposing interests, 
are now matters of curious history. The original Stockton 
and Darlington line, 25 miles in length, was opened September 
27th, 1825. In first estimating the revenue passengers were 
not taken into consideration at all— what the old one-horse 
coach conveyed being an inconsiderable item. The original 
calculation was : — 

165,488 tons of coal £11,904 19 

2,000 „ lime 104 13 

Merchandise 4,000 



£16,009 12 



74 

Yet, for the year ending June 30th, 1S27, the gross income 

stood : — 

Coals £14,455 5 2 

Lime 1,026 1G 10 

Merchandise 1,240 4 t 

Passengers 563 14 

Sundries 1,018 3 6 

£18,304 4 4 
So much for the shrewdness and justification of the specula- 
tion ; but comparing that period with the present, knowing the 
amazing results of the development of that system, the Parlia- 
mentary paper issued on the 4th of August, is of prodigious 
interest. It states : —During the year 1863 there were in 
England and Wales 12 passengers killed and 371 injured from 
causes beyond their own control ; and 13 killed and 1 injured 
from their own misconduct or want of caution. There were 7 
servants of companies or contractors killed, and 29 injured 
from causes beyond their own control ; 66 killed, and 12 in- 
jured from their own misconduct. Five were killed at level 
crossings ; 25 trespassers were killed, and 4 injured. There 
were one person killed, and 2 injured from miscellaneous causes. 
In Scotland the figures were— passengers killed from causes be- 
yond their own control, 2; injured, 11; from their own mis- 
conduct, killed, 6 ; servants killed from causes beyond their own 
control, 4 ; injured, 12 ; from their own misconduct, killed, 11 ; 
injured, 2; killed at level crossings, 1 ; injured, lj trespas- 
sers kiiled, 8 ; injured, 1 ; miscellaneous, injured, 1. Ireland 
— Passengers killed from causes beyond their own control, ; 
injured, 18 ; killed from their own misconduct, 2 ; servants 
injured from causes beyond their own control, 3 ; killed from 
their own misconduct, 10 ; killed at level crossings, 3 ; tres- 
passers killed, 7 ; injured, 2 ; miscellaneous, killed, 1. The 
number of miles open in England and Wales, on the 31st of 
December last, was double, 5,876 ; single, 2,692— total, 8,568. 
The number of passengers, exclusive of season-ticket holders, 
was— first-class, 21,992,216; second, 51,794,959; third, 
99,818,310 ; total, 173,605,485. The season-ticket holders 
were 42,991. The number of passenger trains was 2,396,334, 
which ran 50,515,081 miles; goods trains, 1,415,524, which 
ran 46,909,098 ; total, 3,811,878 trains, which ran 97,424,179 
miles. The receipts from first-class passengers were 
£2,868,221 (a slight diminution) ; second, £3,773,684 ; third 
£3,948,774 ; season tickets, £287,956 ; total, £10,878,635. 
Keceipts for excess of luggage, horses, dogs, &c, £992,570; 
mails, £391,211. Total from passenger traffic, £12,262,416; 
livestock, £465,154 ; minerals, £4,504,43 4 ; general merchan- 
dise, £8,980,818. Total g«ods traffic, £13,950,406 ; total 
receipts for traffic, £26,212,822. The total receipts in Scot- 
laud were £3,424,921 ; and in Ireland, £1.518,654. The pro- 
portion of expenditure to receipts last year was 48 per cent., 
the proportion in 1862 having been 49. The total amount of 
capital paid up on the 31st of December was £404.215,525 ; 
and the net receipts were £16,048,931, which would yield an 
average return of something less than 4 per cent. 



Robertson and Calvert, Printers, Saddler Street, Durham. 



tJe*; ,, 



